Tapes ‘n Tapes – Walk It Off Review
Posted by James Palm on 04.15.2008
It's time for another hype-fueled indie band's sophomore release. Can TnT improve on the formula that made The Loon a critical darling?
With the exponential growth of the power of the Internet over the latter half of this decade, many bands have adapted and discovered ways to expose their music indepedently. Like any musical phenomenon, this has yielded mixed results. The Arctic Monkeys might be one of the highest selling artists of the last two years, but their music pales in comparison to lesser known DIY artists such as New York’s Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Minnesota’s Tapes ‘n Tapes. TnT emerged in 2005 with The Loon, and while the album garnered deserved critical praise and enabled the band to tour the world, with a sound heavily derived from their musical influences, the challenge was to record a follow-up that would prove their worth as more than just another ‘blog band’.
First impressions count for so much these days. The first song on any album can make or break it. Keen to show they mean business, TnT open with “Le Ruse”, perhaps the perfect introduction to what is about to transpire. It is almost Walk It Off in a microcosm. Erik Appelwick’s bass starts the mood in familiar territory, if you listen to 50% of the indie bands on the scene. But the guitar is also there in the background, slowly building, as does the melody, many times, until by Josh Grier’s powerful wails of "I’m on trial/I’m on fire”, we ourselves have fallen to the ruse and underestimated TnT’s abilities to create a satisfying blend of poetry and pop, which they continue to do for the first half of the album.
While the term ‘poetry’ may seem foreign when discussing bands of TnT’s ilk, no better defense comes than “Time Of Songs”, a maudlin ode to recorded music itself. It’s definitely the weirdest love song I’ve heard this year, but it doesn’t drag the mood of the album down. However, every track on the album is judged on its relative location to “Hang Them All”. If “Le Ruse” was a microcosm of this album, “…All” contains all that is enjoyable of TnT. Catchy-as-hell dance riffs, a bizarre modern take on psychedelic bands of decades past and a talent for variety.
They do owe much of their sound to 90’s indie pop juggernauts, and they seem to be paying tribute to every one of them on “Headshock”, a sweeping tour of distorted guitar driven rock. Despite the relatively short track lengths, TnT are able to naturally explore so many different sounds. Walk It Off implies that a bigger band is waiting to burst out, but they wish to show restraint. I can’t understand why, though. “Say Back Something” is a track that with more instruments and prominent guitar could have challenged current world champions The Arcade Fire in the making-beautiful-women-swoon stakes.
Although there are several moments of triumph, TnT has not completely figured out what kind of band they are. All it takes in an octave change and the band set a dirtier tone for the second half of the album. “Demon Apple” is a demonic trip through the mind of a killer, while “Blunt”, with its simplistic dance hook, is the closest to a single the album comes. If Josh Homme was to extend a Desert Sessions invitation to TnT, these two tracks would be the product of that increasingly tantalizing collaboration. However the band returns to their roots with a track that must surely be named for the riff’s resemblance to one of its namesake’s famous songs, “George Michael”.
Matt Kretzman finally gets a chance to shine towards the end of the album. “Anvil” and “Lines” flirt with folk, acting almost like lullabies. No matter the sound, each song on this album is memorable in its own right. Walk It Off is a collection of songs, but they adhere to no base genre. They are making music, not singles. So much here reminds me of Modest Mouse, the epics that emerge from humble beginnings, the ability to sound different each song without resembling a mash-up artist, plus the lack of discernible singles. For the majority of their career, Modest Mouse never had songs that stood out as singles, whereas on their last two albums, “Float On” and “Dashboard” were practically on the charts before the albums were released. Here, “Blunt” stands out, but it is quite removed from the feel of the album.
Though there are similarities, TnT fall short of creating an album worthy of the Mouse’s earlier work, such as This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About (which you should own). If TnT were able to stretch some of the track lengths and flesh out some melodies, the album would feel stronger. However, by the second half, the band feels they’ve done their job, and you find yourself skipping back to earlier tracks. Perhaps the band is still finding it’s feet, which is understandable, given this is only their second album. Of course, in today’s fuel-charged industry, you’ve got to keep yourself relevant.
The Hit - Hang Them All The Encore - Conquest The Wah? - Blunt
The 411: Although it definitely feels like an album in two halves, Walk It Off has enough stand-out moments to warrant multiple listens. The love of Pavement is still prominent, but that's nothing to complain about. It's not groundbreaking, but if you enjoy this sort of thing, then it's worth checking out. If anything, Tapes 'N Tapes have created intrigue as to what they can do next.
