From the Elephant 6 collective setting off a torrent of Beach Boys-inspired tunes to Woodstock 2000, and of course that lame bell-bottom resurgence, the last ten years have seen a return to all things '60s. It was only a matter of time before Andy Warhol permeated some aspect of twenty-first century culture. Named after the Warhol hanger-on who frequented the Factory, drum and bass duo Edie Sedgwick attempt to capture Warholian aesthetics through songs named after and written about celebrities. Whether their entire existence is just ironic schtick or they're actually attempting to formulate some erudite societal criticism has yet to be determined, but in either case their music has a distinctive allure.
First Reflections melds two-minute songs with structured punk improvisation to form a sound not unlike a Fugazi practice-session. In Edie Sedgwick's case, rather than ebulliating emotional strife to the listener, the lyrical expression of feelings comes in relation to celebrities. Singer Justin Moyer delivers absurd lyrics like "I don't want to grow up in pampers, jockstraps, condoms/with Wendy Tinkerbell/in Never Never Land" with such unassuming zeal that it's easy to get lost in the energetic throes of the music, completely losing track of the fact that he's actually singing about "Tom Cruise" or "Christina Ricci".
Although the band would never admit it, at times the album seems to slip into parody mode, mocking the Dischord sound. On "MacCauley Culkin" (sic), for instance, Moyer suffuses the dynamic bass/drum interplay with his own mouth-noises -- "Boom! Boom!" -- and on more than one occasion gaudy arpeggios hang on a little past their welcome.
If this all sounds a little preposterous to you, take comfort in the fact that even drummer Ryan Hicks finds Moyer's "motion picture starlet" montage a bit far removed, claiming in various interviews "I just love it for the music. The ideology comes from Justin pretty much 100%." What makes this album work is precisely that balance between the absurd and actual musical substance. It gives the music a lasting impact...and if nothing else, it's a funny thing to play for friends.
|
