Picture this: some of the more open-minded members of that dance-troupe Stomp discover Black Dice’s Beaches and Canyons, Lightning Bolt’s Wonderful Rainbow, Animal Collective’s Feels and maybe another Noise Rock record or two. They decide that, instead of performing to packed theatres of tourists and the like, they will pick up real drums, learn (or maybe unlearn is a better term) how to play keyboard and create heavily percussive Indie music in basements, alleyways and pretty much wherever they can.
This is more of less the sound that one will find on GAame, the debut record by Aa (pronounced Big A little a). Granted, I’m fairly certain these guys never performed in a “dance-troupe”, but the tribal, multi-layered percussion found throughout GAame sort of recalls a cooler version of said dancers. There’s no real mistaking a song like
Flag Day , where members scream like primates back and forth at each other and a “hook” is absolutely no where to be found, for a section of a popular theatrical production anyway. The vocals, despite being incoherent and a little scary, are terribly exciting and maybe even catchy.
Manshake is a little more structured and recalls the aforementioned Animal Collective, had they been born in the gutters of New York City, instead of [presumably] in a Maryland hospital. This time everything, the vocals, the drums and the keyboards, are indisputably catchy.
On Manshake, and all throughout GAame, the calls, screams and odd shouts are affected and looped, to the point where at times they seem closer to Keyboard lines than actual vocals.
Thirteen , which I’m fairly certain is a single of some sort, features some discernable words, but Aa might as well be singing in a foreign language. A rare moment when the lyrics are able to be understood comes on
Fingers to Fist, where Aa almost begin to sound like cLOUDDEAD. Fingers to Fist is a great track, but not having intelligible vocals certainly doesn’t hurt GAame. Without them, the listener is forced to focus more on the overall picture of pounding, screeching and synthesizing instead of trying to figure out what the hell a song titled
Horse Steak is about. And it isn’t like the overall picture is boring, nothing during this 33.5 minute disc gets stale, from the primitive Hip-Hop of
Time In to the extended ambience of
Uracle . The album is eclectic, but flows well, and it’s clear that Aa have their own identity and a central concept.
With each listen, GAame seems to sound better, and as one begins to recognize where and when the shouts, obscure percussive slamming and varied keyboard noises come in and out, Aa become as “Pop” about as a Guitar-less Noise band can get. GAame is a great record, and Aa seem like they’d be an even better live act. At the very least, parents should be making their kids listen to this, instead of the aforementioned lame-o dance crew.
-Dan
