Review Summary: It just keeps going. And going. And going.
Listening to the Japanese instrumental-rock band About Tess’s 2010 album “Song of the Bird” this morning was probably a bad idea; I’ve felt mentally bankrupt all day. I’m spent. Song of the Bird’s 75 minutes felt twice as long, as it meandered in and out of my consciousness much like a day dream. After a while I forgot I was listening to music; About Tess like to jam on progression/rhythm to the point where I occasionally wonder whether or not they’ve simply forgotten the tapes are still rolling. Listening to “Song of the Bird”, for me, was like running a mental marathon; at the end I felt sweaty and dehydrated.
In short, “Song of the Bird” is pretty sweet. It’s relentless to the point where I wonder if they really recorded it all at once or whether they tacked separately recorded material together to form its four 12-24 minute-long tracks, which more or less fit together as one monster track. Regardless, it’s a beast. An audimonstrosity. While this introduction may scare off the more timid listener, be not steered in the wrong direction: I love this album, and About Tess is quickly becoming one of my “favorite” bands. They click.
Its first track, “Beginning from Decision” starts with a cool, flowing riff. Sort of a windows down, elbow out the window type groove. It’s not -that- groovy, alright, but it leans toward “cool”. And here it stays for ten whole minutes of grueling ascension. I don’t mean grueling in a bad way, I just mean sweating, climbing up the steep side of the mountain. You’ve got to earn your keep with “Song of the Bird”, and About Tess wants to weed out those who aren’t ready right at the get go. Those faint of heart, without the proper endurance, would probably aim for the fast-forward button. 10 Minutes in and all that sweat pouring down your brow, that heavy feeling, finally gives way to a new horizon. You’ve broken through the wall: you’re feelin’ good! You look up at the sky, the trees, the cute girl walking her dog, and you give her a smile and and thumbs up. You’re swinging your hips to the groove, you’re feeling the burn but you’re lovin’ the burn.
I’m going to stop with the jogging scenario. The song changes up a bit more and ends with a strange speaking bit set to a somber background. “Somber”… kind of guitar picking-ish pretty sounding stuff, but sort of like you’re leaving somewhere and you might not be coming back. Sort of like… leaving this song and not coming back. But you’re not even almost done with “Song of the Bird”. Oh, Hell no!
Next song! I’m not even going to type the title… something about a dead bird. ***, it’s 22 minutes! It’s damn cool, though. Tell me you don’t like that sexy guitar/bass riffin’ in the beginning. I love it. In About Tess fashion, they beat the same riff into ridiculousness, meaning burning guitar solos left and right, bashing on those drums with reckless abandon, until it changes into something entirely different that they keep with for another while. If I can say one thing about About Tess, they don’t try to integrate previous riffs into new sections, or have any type of returns or reprises of old ideas. It’s this progession, and then a completely new one, and then a totally new one. The *** doesn’t mesh, it’s just this, then that, then that. It’s cool, but it can be mentally exhausting. This is not bedtime music… This is not “sit and have a nice tea”, or “look out the window at the rain” music. This is… I don’t even know. This is music for just jamming out, or cruising down the highway when you can afford going 70mph for long stretches.
If there’s another thing I could say about this album (and “About Tess” in general) it’s that they don’t have many intermissions in their albums. There aren’t many, if any (depends on your criteria) break times, cool down points, areas to refuel, grab a drink of water, take a breather. About Tess seriously just keep. on. going. They are like a band of a bunch of those energizer bunnies. They don’t stop. Song number 3, “Somewhere or Nothing”, gives the best your going to get in terms of some time off during minutes 11-15, as well as the final song “Phantom Bird” during the first to second minute. I really have to do that though: pin down the exact minutes. One “song” can hardly be said to be that, a “song”. The whole album is just one big mess of ridiculousness, in a good way.
About Tess’s style is: prominent drumming mostly all of the time, cool bass lines, one guitar doing the rhythm/melody and another guitar just shredding persistently. There are also faint synths added in the background at times, though they could just as well not be there. I wouldn’t call them Math Rock in the sense that Lite, Mudy on the Sakuban, Toe and Mirror are Math Rock (other Japanese bands). They’re more like a jam band, if “Godspeed You! Black Emperor” did a lot of meth, or something. Like… “Godspeed You! Black Emperor” would have to be really energetic to sound like About Tess, but there are similarities. In my musical lexicon, About Tess really stand on their own in terms of their particular sound, though you could relate them to some “sgt.” releases, like “Stylus Fantasticus”.
Final mark: if you’re up for it, About Tess’s 2010 release “Song of the Bird” is a really kick-ass ride. You’re going to have to listen to it all, though. I’m serious. You’ll feel guilty if you just listen to a little bit and stop. I can’t not listen to the whole thing, I just feel like a quitter if I do. You’ve been warned.
