Review Summary: Our awareness is not minimal.
The only thing slightly absurd about
The Absurdist is the tiny space in which both its bellowing grunginess and its lighter, more ethereal traits reside. The unimposing and thoroughly jammable nature of the songs channel Pavement, or maybe a thicker Dinosaur Jr., far more than anything from the 'outsider' realm. But the simple juxtaposition relied on for its edge is enough to get your attention, and the album's other pieces, namely the humorous, but still more than competent vocals, work to draw you all the way in.
In essence, the album itself is the "tiny space." Out of eight songs, half of them last for two minutes or less. But all of them have charming, empathetic atmospheres that, in spite of their tried-and-true aesthetic, feel genuinely complete in their construction. The bass leads the way in a lot of them, most evident in "Congeniality." The song opens with a verse sung over guitar, a nice descending chord pattern. But soon it's revealed that was just something for the bass to explode out of. It arrives heartily, and its unshakeable groove acts a tether pole for the jam session that doesn't just take up, but
is the rest of the song. New guitar harmonies surface up and around the reverberating bass, all with slightly different tones, stirring up a perfect little storm of grungy goodness. Is it 'less is more' or 'more is more'? It's good stuff, is what it is.
Despite the unexpected hugeness of "Congeniality," I'm glad that's the only song on here that follows that progression. The other songs' structures are a little more typical, and that's where the album's 'indie' aesthetic really shines. "On Their Way to Make Their Way" is probably the album's most timid moment, but it sacrifices no amount of atmosphere in achieving this. It's a 'ballad' of sorts, but the bass is still right there, locked in a many-note groove that backdrops the twinkly guitars perfectly. Whispered vocals harmonize with the lead vocals so subtly that you might not even hear them at first. With all this, the song finds a calming, transitory vibe that goes right along with its chorus: "
When I visit the city/Oh, such a pity/Self-conscious animals, on their way to make their way." And it ends by stretching out that last
"way" as far as it can go, riding the breeze of guitars to a truly transcendent moment of reflection. "Chemical Custody" is another remarkably alive indie track present here, with both tempo and volume changes in its verses, a bridge accented by some bubbly glass percussion, and an irresistible hook: "
What you're doing/Is enough to be human, it's alright."
It's these fully-formed songs that make me wonder what the more bite-sized tracks could've been. "Silverdawg" does cram a lot of instrumental shifts into its minute-and-a-half runtime, the drums stopping and starting to make huge gaps in which the vocals get emphasized, but it's because of this that the song ends up feeling a bit rushed. "Floating Orb" also ends rather quickly, considering the poetic possibilities of the subjects touched upon in the one small vocal part: "
Hey, what you got for me?/We're on a floatin' orb."
"On Their Way to Make Their Way" may be the most timid moment on
The Absurdist, but the album wisely ends at its very most affected: "Sylvia." If anything, it's so affected that I kind of wish the album prepared me for it a little more. The quite humorless song flows through a melancholy, far-echoing chord progression for two minutes before the vocals come in, only to repeat "
I saw Sylvia/She didn't have a care in this world." It does intensify and climax though, and that's what gives the album its ending note of satisfaction we were promised at the beginning.
In my mind,
The Absurdist is almost exactly what 'unpretentious' rock music should sound like in 2016. It hearkens back to heralded bands, but would never be outright mistaken for any of them. It has an obvious and genuine sense of humor and is no less real because of it. In "Humanity[rut]," a wish is spoken: "
Come on, humanity, I want to hang with you/Want to tie your shoe," and after, the wish is justified with an uplifting bit of truth: "
Our awareness is not minimal." Clearly, if we're capable of art like this.
