Run On
On/Off (Matador)
by Marc Hirsh
Run On
On/Off (Matador)
by Marc Hirsh
originally published in the Public News, October 11, 1995
I had an entirely different review already written. All I had planned on doing was listening to the disc while doing some last-minute editing, just to make sure that I hadn't done anything stupid like make outlandish generalizations that didn't even apply.
Thank God. Not only did I have some inexcusably incorrect memories of the music on On/Off, I found that the third time is, apparently, the charm. I discounted this band too early.
It was only now that the melodies finally broke through the noise assault of this very electric tribal band. "Into the Attic" and "Water" finally made sense to me, the rhythmic and sonic assault cohering into actual songs rather than just sounds with pitches.
I can still do without the instrumental "Switch On" or the self-recorded "Beat Out," which takes too long to go nowhere. This means that 40% of this five-song EP doesn't work.
This is, however, a step up from listens number 1 and 2, when only "Pretty Note," lovely pop gem that it is, stood out and demanded attention. Now I see the band's plan: one song grabs your attention long enough for two others to ambush you on both sides.
It works. I suspect "Switch On" will sound better the more I listen to On/Off, which will now, to my surprise, be quite a bit. And if not, then I've got a disc, two-thirds of which gives me moderate-to-intense enjoyment. And it only took three tries.