search for something...

search for something you might like...

Attack Decay Sustain Release Love Electrelane, the fightin' titans of Brighton enlighten and brighten with

Attack Decay Sustain Release Love

Electrelane, the fightin' titans of Brighton enlighten and brighten with "No Shouts, No Calls"

by Alex V. Cook, Music Editor
first published: May, 2007

approximate reading time: minutes

I'm so in love with this record right now I might fight you over it.

Electrelane
No Shouts, No Calls
(XL recordings)

In physics terms, a sound wave has four things that define it: attack, decay, sustain, release. I'm sure there is more to it, but I' m using physics as a metaphor rather than actual phenomenological number crunching. Anyway, if this can be exploded out to style, a band's sound if you will, then most bands have some permutation of attack, decay, sustain, release that embody them. I'm not saying every band has a blueprint which they are doomed to follow, but there is something at their sonic DNA that defines what they do.

Brighton's Electrelane has a DNA that looks something like this:

a quick attack, minimal to no recession from the attack's apex, the steadiest flat line development that can be executed by humans and a quick, resolute release. This is also the telltale signature that much of Krautrock exhibits, one of their most obvious stylistic influences, but were my MS paint skills more than they are, I would have rendered the background with soft wood grains, the lines fuzzy and comforting, the angles contoured like the hips of a tight-cardigan-wearing co-ed clutching The Portable Kierkegaard at her bosom. In other words, I have an enormous, consuming crush on the music Electrelane produces. I described it to some friends as a melancholy balm on my troubled soul, but I think that misstates things a bit. Electrelane has near to no melodrama in them whatsoever, just the succession of perfect riffs executed in electrelane -  no shouts, no callslogical organic yet mechanical progressions in brackets that precisely fit their welcome. There last record Axes, on of my favorites of the year was a touch more agro than this missive, but while the claws have been trimmed, their wings are anything but clipped.

"The Greater Times" comes in with steady keyboard drones over a locomotive twinkle of guitars, and is in its simple way, is perfect. This song gets wedged in my head and pushes every other song out of it path. "You say you don't know what love means anymore" is how it starts before they quickly get to "tearing down these walls, these walls, these walls!" There is nothing revolutionary about what they are saying, how they are saying it, yet it is positively glorious. Each song that comes after it has this quality to some extent, but "The Greater Times" right this moment is my song of the year.

Looking for markers, there is a strong strain of that Explosions in the Sky Fourth of July fireworks melancholy and a very string component of Shadowy men from a Shadowy Planet. "After the Call" not only borrows the guitar tone but the melody wholesale from SMfaSP's Kids in the Hall Theme but I don't actually care. That is one of those themes that made me happy every time it came on, as does this song. "Tram 21" is Farfisa powerpop in excelsis domni ad infinitum por favor - like if Autobahn had been concocted by the bookish outcast girls I longed for in high school. Tight, as they say.

Lets be frank, Electrelane is formulaic stuff, but like most great dictators of my heart, their plan is a good one. Come right through the gates, here's the keys. "At Sea" comes on quiet as a breeze and brings in Stereolab, Philip Glass' opera mediations and Sir Douglas Quintet all in one intricate ice capade of a show. "Between the Wolf and the Dog" is the thrash side of this very equation, replacing Stereolab for Gang of Four or Fugazi maybe, and Sir Douglas for Tommy Iommi.

When the ukuleles and tambourines (! Is that really what that is?!? Really, this song is like the first time you see a girl jump a hill on a BMX bike.) Come sauntering in on "Cut and Run" I was already in love, but I'm in deep infatuation. This band is so good, so good. It's like they take all the parts of Yo la Tengo that you like and buff them down to the primer. 'The Lighthouse" tears in with its Philip Glass piano tornado and drums that pound away like they are played on a raceboat, diving into quiet moments of contemplation and than back into adrenaline glory, all with the same economical riff. I'm so in love with this record right now I might fight you over it. You will love this record the same way, how could you not? Physics is on their side.

Alex V. Cook
Music Editor

Alex V. Cook listens to everything and writes about most of it. His latest book, the snappily titled Louisiana Saturday Night: Looking for a Good Time in South Louisiana's Juke Joints, Honky-Tonks, and Dance Halls is an odyssey from the backwoods bars and small-town dives to the swampside dance halls and converted clapboard barns of a Louisiana Saturday Night. Don't leave Heathrow without it. His first book Darkness Racket and Twang is available from SideCartel. The full effect can be had at alex v cook.com
about Alex V. Cook »»

Attrition Banner

Monroe Moon at Corks in Bearwood on Friday April 5th web banner

RECENT STORIES

RANDOM READS

All About and Contributors

HELP OUTSIDELEFT

Outsideleft exists on a precarious no budget budget. We are interested in hearing from deep and deeper pocket types willing to underwrite our cultural vulture activity. We're not so interested in plastering your product all over our stories, but something more subtle and dignified for all parties concerned. Contact us and let's talk. [HELP OUTSIDELEFT]

WRITE FOR OUTSIDELEFT

If Outsideleft had arms they would always be wide open and welcoming to new writers and new ideas. If you've got something to say, something a small dank corner of the world needs to know about, a poem to publish, a book review, a short story, if you love music or the arts or anything else, write something about it and send it along. Of course we don't have anything as conformist as a budget here. But we'd love to see what you can do. Write for Outsideleft, do. [SUBMISSIONS FORM HERE]

OUTSIDELEFT UNIVERSE

The Retrofuturists Are Back February 29th
OUTSIDELEFT Night Out
weekend

outsideleft content is not for everyone