Teeth MountainTeeth Mountain tour EP
(2008, self released)
RIYL = Raccoo-oo-oon, Kemialliset Ystavat, tribal wierdos!
Oh man, I love Baltimore. I’ve never actually been there, but they sure do have a pretty resilient music scene. In all honesty, I’m not that big into their poster-boy, Dan Deacon, but WZT Hearts! Sheesh, that band’s miniature legacy alone will cement the city with a permanent status of awesomeness in my book. And then you got Beach House and Thank You and others. Whatever. Good stuff. Well, it’s time to add another cog to the music-awesomeness machinery that is Baltimore’s. Teeth Mountain have been kicking up dust this past year with a slew of releases spanning cassette tape to LP in addition to this here compact disc. A tour EP that was coincidentally sold on their tour (who knew?), this thing is fantastic. The band’s sound is weird, which is a plus. In fact they kind fill in the massive gap that Raccoo-oo-oon has left with their demise quite nicely. The EP is filled with a lot of shorter to mid range tracks that are propelled by propulsive, tribal drumming and then bamboozled with a glut of ridiculous electronics that pull and contort within the confines of the rhythm. The beauty about the band in comparison to the mighty Raccoo-oo-oon (at least on this release) is that they never get lost in the frantic mess that they are creating. Sure, the wander off into bizarre fields, but it always comes off as fun or mesmerizing and never flat and tired. This may be helped by the fact that the compositions are a bit shorter, lending themselves to the perfect running time necessary for complete fulfillment. It is music that is characterized by the mess it makes rather than the structures it creates, which is fun. However, I think the fun factor also deceives you into thinking that making a really worthwhile mess is easy. It’s not. Anyone can bang a rhythm into a drum and go crazy on an instrument. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to listen to it though. Teeth Mountain, on the other hand, are professional mess makers. I mean, you know these guys have been destroying song structures for a long time by how wonderfully their messiness gels into something so cohesive and satisfying. Definitely an awesome band to watch in 2009.
- Lil' Thistle
This isn't from the EP, but whatever, it's still good:
1 comment:
Yeah, Baltimore seems to be the next Portland or something. Lots of good stuff coming from there recently. This one especially. So full of energy. I really look forward to seeing them when they open for Deacon in Boston.
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