Review Summary: A revealing mess.
It’s really quite fantastic when one listens to an album that is well-thought out and intentional. When an artist takes every note, line, and lyric into account, the product is usually fascinating to listen to, even if the end result falls short of its goals. Getting the opportunity to pick apart calculated albums like these is a lot like experiencing a building by attempting to put yourself in the shoes of the architect. It’s, at the very least, an engaging exercise for the brain when assuming the perspective of another artist. What happens, however, when the record is nearly the exact opposite, a scatterbrained mess that thrives on spontaneity and improvisation? Well, that’s exactly what D.C. natives Q and Not U present to you with their 3rd and final album,
Power.
Opener ‘Wonderful People’ makes it blatantly obvious that this effort will be much different in nature when compared to their influential debut
No Kill No Beep Beep. Although the feel of the obtuse sounding band is still present, it is translated into a funk inspired, catchy dance song, stripping away any of the band’s post-hardcore influences. However, the track establishes itself as a fun listen, mostly due to the infectious high falsetto vocals, a reoccurring technique used throughout the album. It’s somewhat fitting that the next song combined with its predecessor both encompass all the strengths and weaknesses on the record. ‘7 Daughters’ sees Q and Not U at their more experimental side, but the strange choice of instruments coupled with the repetitive rhythmic section hinders this experiment from becoming anything enjoyable. The band is at its best when they are able to translate their contagious melodies, diverse drumming, and sporadic energy into a single song. This is seen with album highlights ‘X-Polynation’, ‘L.a.x.’, and ‘Collect the Diamonds’, as all are able to take advantage of the band’s strengths as well as their masterful layering techniques. Here, elements of NKNBB are strikingly present as the catchy vocal melodies contrasted with the quirky instrumentals blend together in a fun, messy presentation. However, when thoughtful experimentation morphs into displaced ideas in the form of random elements thoughtlessly thrown together, the album falters. Examples of this can be seen in ‘Throw Back Your Head’ and ‘District Night Prayer’ as their placements of instruments such as the recorder, synths, and melodicas feel completely out of place. The two tracks are much more subdued in nature but do not take themselves seriously enough to remain engaging. The overuse of the dance-party synth plagues some of these tracks as well, even ruining an initially pleasant song as seen with ‘Beautiful Beats’. Although it sometimes fills the gap that former bassist Matt Borlik left with his departure, often times the synth line become more of a distraction than a solution.
Although the random nature may seem like
Power’s vital flaw, most of the charm that radiates from it comes from the spontaneity itself. Previously mentioned high point ‘X-Polynation’ features an obviously improvised recorder that rears its head intermittently, but this comes off as charismatic as the listener gets to understand how much fun this band had while recording this album. Although this album proves to be frustratingly misplaced when it is consumed in its entirety, you still get the pleasure of peering into the mindsets of the artists. It’s hard to fault a band that is trying to have as much fun as they can as this album is a final hurrah from a bunch of friends that obviously love playing together. When that genuineness leaks into the fabrics of the songs themselves, the results are captivating. So, dance along at your own caution, the outcome will be unpredictable.
