At first glance, experimental indie music may seem like an ill conceived idea. The main objective for many indie bands today is to craft the perfect hook which wins them extensive airtime, and it’s difficult to blame them, because it’s largely what the masses want to hear. The result however is often shallow and fleeting, and the listener’s interest is rarely more than superficial. Of course, such a generalisation sees many brilliant indie bands unfairly tarnished with the same brush, but it does stress the fact that there are few brave enough to deviate from the beaten track. The juxtaposition of radio friendly pop tunes and abrasive string driven instrumentals sets Oregon five-piece Rare Monk apart from their peers, and it’s this propensity to dare and experiment which makes
Sleep/Attack such an exciting debut.
Towards the album’s beginning both “Death by Proxy” and “Burn Them!” showcases the band’s pop-leanings, and they lure you into a false sense of security regarding the variation to come. Choosing first to demonstrate their mainstream appeal, Rare Monk wisely begins
Sleep/Attack with their most commercially viable track. High pitched keyboards and bouncy guitars immediately enter the fray on “Death by Proxy” and build a platform for the accessible vocals to thrive on; it’s sugary sweet, but it never becomes sickly. Although in the same vein musically, “Burn Them!” betrays its whimsical nature lyrically as lead singer Dorian Aites delivers lines like “I’ll marry you, but only for the fame,” and “I drink success, but only from your veins” with all the innocence he can muster. Although deceivingly straight forward upon its first few listens, “Burn Them!” actually typifies Rare Monk’s experimental nature, and proves that even when their instruments sound slick and friendly, scratching the surface just slightly reveals menacing motifs.
Sleep/Attack’s strongest trait is that it covers a lot of ground but never spreads itself too thin, something even highly seasoned bands fall down on. Although it incorporates strings, keys, guitars and even brass, it never feels as though the band is using a medley of sounds purely for the sake of being diverse. The end product feels as smooth and seamless as if they’ve been plying their trade for years, first chiselling then polishing their sound until any coarse remnants had been eroded. We know from their recent inception however that this hasn’t been the case, and it makes
Sleep/Attack all the more impressive. The best example of their fluidity comes when the band transitions from the squeaky-clean pop hooks of “Burn Them!” to the heavily distorted, string-driven “Dreadnought,” as it succeeds in feeling every inch a natural progression, not a conscious transition.
One of Rare Monk’s biggest selling points is their experimental instrumentals, which act as the album’s centrepiece and its finale. Both “Dreadnought” and “Mama Bear” see vocalist Aites stand aside as the reverb and distortion are cranked up, and the drumming is intensified. The former focuses heavily on immediacy and aggression and it swirls in a melancholic rage, while the latter builds patiently, growing in intensity in typical post-rock fashion, before providing the album with a satisfying, apt finale.
Taking ambitious instrumentals and teaming them up with strong indie tracks was a brave but exhilarating move by Rare Monk. Their eccentric formula was always likely to be detrimental to any commercial success they sought, but widespread acclaim isn’t the be-all and end-all of making music - and you get the feeling that Rare Monk knows it.
