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gggpPUS PROJECT MAKES the EXPERIMENTAL both
lame Trent Reznor. For everything. I
do. Pretty Hate Machine (the first in
dependent release to go platinum) was
the harbinger of emotional hard knocks to come,
or at least increased documentation of said hard
knocks: Nine Inch Nails' success effectively boxed
positivity in popular music into a corner. He had
help—word up to Kurt Cobain—but Reznor's un
abashed self-loathing set the stage for nii-metal,
mall-punk emo and all other fashionable excuses
for bro-down dudes to flagellate themselves (if
not the women who are inevitably, supposedly,
the source of their deep, deep pain).
And so, in the two thousand and seventh year
of our Lord, "Music is Happiness" is the sort of
song title that could get you in trouble. What
is this, some kinda twee lollipop convention?
Why wasn't I invited? Who didn't invite me? The
sad truth is that a lot of musicians (as well as
music listeners) deny themselves the inalienable
right to bliss, that's right, bliss, and the Octopus
Project delivers on that single’s titular promise.
The combined powers of Yvonne Lambert, Josh
Lambert (yup, they're married), Ryan Figg and
Toto Miranda bring the sort of gleeful Technicolor
pop to the table that gives one the impression
that hanging out in a recording studio all day is
fun and/or easy.
It's hard to say where one bandmember be
gins and another ends, as no one on the roster
seems too tied down to any particular station.
Warm, fuzzy synths do hardcore pile-ups on top
of shuffling percussion, some live, some not. It's
the kind of music that Willy Wonka would ap
prove of, and despite being mostly instrumental,
the sincerity on the 2002 debut Identification
Parade and 2005's One Ten Hundred Thousand
Million is plenty tangible.
The group congealed through a series of
inter-band nods and considerations in its original
hometown of Houston (note the sizzurp-soaked
"EEEAAASSSEEE BAAACCCCKKKKK" for evidence
of some chopped-and-screwed influence), but
currently calls Austin, TX, home. When pressed
for some of the "hipsters-go-home" attitude that
locals have displayed towards the yearly crush of
industry types known as the South By Southwest
Festival, mostly-drummer Miranda has nothing
but positive reports from the frontline of his cur
rent homestead. "Because there's so much going
on, there's more of a support structure, more op
portunities to play, people are really in the mood
for going out to see a band because they know
there's always going to be somebody to see," he
says. "It helps, if anything."
The band played a show at the Caledonia and
at Tasty World in both 2004 and 2005, but hasn't
been seen around these parts since; though
YouTube clips showcase a whimsical live show
with exuberance to spare, the band's unofficial
standout is Yvonne, whose theremin skills are
a thing to behold—this is no college-kid mess,
we're talking some serious Clara Rockmore shit.
The Octopus Project applies the age-old Phil
Spector adage of studio-as-instrument to the
new era of digital sound-bombing, with more-
than-satisfactorily crunchy results. It all points
suspiciously towards the "e" word. So, wouid the
members agree with the Austin Chroniae's voting
readers' assertion that they are, as of this past
year, the best "experimental" band in their Texas
hometown? "No, I don't think we would call our
selves tnat," says Miranda. "We're not the weird
est band out there, but we're not too standard
either. We could fall into a lot of categories."
The band's tightrope walk between the bizarre
and the accessible is particularly notable on The
House of Apples and Eyeballs, last year's split
release with Pennsylvania-based musical gumball
machine Black Moth Super Rainbow. Examining
the 16 tracks to see which jams belong to whom,
a jarring surprise reveals itself: it's not a split
release with separate contributions, but a col
laboration.
"The guy who runs Graveface Records, who
put out the split [and is Black Moth's label
home], got in touch with us over the Internet,
and so we checked out his label and the bands
that he puts out," explains Miranda. "We really
got into Black Moth's music, and I don't know
whose idea it was that we do a split, but in the
meantime, Black Moth had heard our music and
were really excited about working together. We
ended up putting the whole thing together trad
ing files over the Internet and had the whole
thing completed before we even met those guys."
This sort of pastiche-based songcraft wasn't
alien to the Octopus Project, the members of
which tend to swap ideas back and forth for each
other’s consideration, much like Paul McCartney
and John Lennon submitted their songs to one
another for editing and comment. "It's a lot more
of a recording process, not so much in a studio
so much as us at home," says Miranda. "I'll give
one of the other guys a series of half-finished
demos or they'll give some to me... kind or
similar to what we did with Black Moth, only in
ternally. We'll work independently and contribute
ideas so we can all work on the tune."
The fruits of the group's most recent work
arrive in the form of Hello, Avalanche, the forth
coming full-length on Peek-a-Boo Records which
should hit on Oct. 9. Athens will be the band's
second stop on a two-month-plus jaunt around
the States, accompanied on various legs of the
tour by Aesop Rock, Stereo Total and our own
Cinemechanica. Basically, missing the Octopus
Project at the 40 Watt is a great idea if you hate
smiles, kittens and swimming.
Jeff Tobias
f >
WHO: The Octopus Project,
Cinemechanica, Loxsiy
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
WHEN: Saturday, August 18
HOW MUCH: $6
v . y
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