BLONDE REDHEAD
23
4AD
· Expert vocal work overshadows minor musical flaws.
Blonde Redhead has weathered the changing tides in rock music since being discovered by Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley in 1993 (arguably, during the turning point of the grunge/alternative era). The band was silenced for a significant part of the last decade due to an equestrian accident suffered by Kazu Makino, the band’s vocalist. 2004’s Misery is a Butterfly was largely inspired by the incident. She has since made a full recovery and the band has continued to make critically-acclaimed albums, as well as maintain a busy touring schedule.
Although the band consists of a Japanese vocalist (Makino) and two male counterparts (Milanese twin brothers Amedeo and Simone Pace), Blonde Redhead cannot be compared further to eclectic experimentalists Deerhoof, or energetic indie-rockers Enon. On 23, their style is light, simple and gently melodic.
The opening song, "23," is immediately captivating. It rolls along in a way that reminds the listener of Radiohead’s "Where I End and You Begin," without relying on a driving bassline. The next few pieces don’t stray very far from this established mood, with Makino’s vocal melodies carrying the bulk of the musical weight. Momentum starts to build again during "Spring and by Summer Fall" where Amedeo Pace takes over the microphone. His voice is a good counterpoint, but the only song where a duet is attempted is "Publisher," possibly the album’s weakest. Despite the mildly annoying clapper percussion effect, "Silently" is catchy and intelligent. "Top Ranking" again highlights the bird-like, ethereal and polished vocal work.
The tracks on the second half of 23 seem a bit more inventive than the first. Blonde Redhead is most musically interesting when it breaks out of the formulaic four-on-the-floor-style kick drumming, reverb-heavy vocals and glacial new wave synths. The album does not push any boundaries, but it’s still a good listen.
BLONDE REDHEAD
23
4AD
· Back in the proverbial saddle.
The last few years were not kind to Kazu Makino. While horseback riding she fell from her horse, which then stomped her face in. After surgery, she returned alongside twin brothers Amadeo and Simone Pace with Blonde Redhead’s most alternately loved and hated album, Misery is a Butterfly, a gorgeously lush collection of clavinet-driven elegies, rife with more than enough horse imagery to get the point across. Still, beautiful as it was, so much of Blonde Redhead’s propulsive energy was missing.
It’s hard to fault a girl for wanting to commemorate her near-death, but in the shadow of the brand new 23, Misery is a Butterfly feels like a momentary gasp for air rather than a full-time, somber, slo-mo direction. Driven largely by Pace's rapid-fire, skin-bruise drumming, 23 isn't exactly a return to form as it's an expansion of all things Blonde Redhead have proven themselves adept at since those auspicious beginnings as a Sonic Youth Jr. act. There's no one quite as capable at making music so suave, sexy and coiled. 23 is the ultimate in adult Euro cool (by way of Japan and New York City).
"The Dress" is spooky as heck, Makino promising "I love you lots," duetting with her own whispered self. "SW" turns surprisingly baroque and epic with a mid-section horn section nodding its hat to Sgt. Pepper over its coiled attack. 23’s first moments rip open with the title track’s blur of smeared guitars, drum-rolls, and floating la-la-las.
Already, fittingly and deservedly, they’re discussed in the same hushed tones as their 4AD forefathers The Pixies and Cocteau Twins, and 23’s yet another amazing achievement.
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