Quasi has been the musical partnership between Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss since 1993. Mainly focused around drums and keyboard they are a band intent on capturing the nuances that life’s ups and down dole out to us all, and to them as musicians and friends. Unlike their last record, Hot Shit, which stripped back there sound somewhat, Quasi have returned with a record that has rock music at its very core. The music is immediate and vital, a sort of rock music with a soul. The duo's ability to harmonize and complement each other both vocally and musically, particularly on the excellent “Merry X-Mas,” further compliments the swirling, distorted sound.
Quasi continues its streak of smart, gloriously off-kilter indie-rock with 2006's When The Going Gets Dark. Coomes and Weiss, offer up eleven tracks ranging in style from lumbering rockers (the pounding "Alice the Goon") to lo-fi pop ditties (the harmony-laden "Peace and Love"). Weiss, with her hard-hitting percussion and subtle background vocals, is the group's secret weapon, leaving singer/multi-instrumentalist Coomes, armed with his plaintive yelp and elliptical lyrics, to handle all other duties (primarily bass and piano). Displaying a disdain for typical song structures and a penchant for distortion, When The Going Gets Dark, to its credit, has no intention of making its restless sound more accessible.
Granted, the record starts out like it's going to be an absolute lo-fi rock racket – distorted guitars battle it out with random piano hammering – but then it eventually morphs into sprawling psychedelic pop. A thoroughly enjoyable album When the Going Gets Dark is what so much rock music should sound like. However it never really pushes the envelope that stage further to make it breathtaking and a couple of weaker moments do rear their heads. Still a record well worth checking out mind.
Here, Quasi deliver an incredibly large sound within the limitations of a two person band. They capture sounds that are powerful, unrepeatable & unmistakably psychedelic. Images emerge, centered on dreams, memories and defiance. Produced by Dave Fridmann, who understood this album's intensity and beautiful chaos. He made the mixes powerful & unpredictable, enhancing the swirling, layered, psyche feel and sprinkled fairy dust all over it.
Quasi sound heavier and a bit more a acid-fried. Coombes' pleadingly roared lyrics and guitar style remind of '60s Hendrix, while Weiss's drumming is pure Keith Moon, and then there's the deranged Jerry Lee Lewis piano. Unexpectedly the whole adds up to a most frantic and catchy guitar-pop record – White Album-era Beatles filtered through the sensibilities of Sonic Youth – all served in an electric lysergic blues marinade. On When The Going Gets Dark, The duo is further expanding their sound with perhaps their most furious playing to date. |