Akron/Family - Meek Warrior
Jesus christ, do I enjoy Akron/Family's two 2005 releases. See, I have this friend Kate who I sat next to in geometry last year, and I would always complain to her about how I hate Devendra Banhart and all that smelly, bearded hippy shit that the kids seem to dig these days. So she seemed pretty convinced that I would absolutely hate Akron/Family's 2005 debut. She gave me a copy, I listened to it, and I just thought, "Eh? I should hate this, but it's just so sonically interesting! And the melodies are pleasing as shit. Gee, these guys are just really good at making music together."
Then I heard their Split LP with Angels of Light, and that ruled, too. And it rocked really fucking hard. I was pretty convinced that they were one of the two or three best bands in the world, so when I heard that they had a new album, I got really psyched! At first, I was like, "Yeah, it will be totally amazing, obviously. These fellas are at the top of their game." Then I started hearing people who loved the first record saying things about how Meek Warrior is a major dissapointment, and I started to worry. Had they grown too confident? Were they really just randomly throwing ideas at a wall? It didn't help that the running time on the album was a mere 35:00 (compared with the first record, which was an hour long), and that the lyrics sheet presented songs that consisted of maybe two lines repeated over and over.
Well, guess what? I love this record! It might not have as much "emotional depth" as their last one, and it might be pointlessly all over the place in some spots, but I don't give a shit. I'm a fan! As evidenced by how I feel about their still infantile discography as of October 25th, 2006, I think anything these guys do is genius. Sorry! Until Michael Gira suddenly comes out and says, "You know, these guys have jumped the shark," these guys have my support all the way.
So, what does the album sound like? This album sounds like a bunch of bearded twentysomethings getting together to make "mind-expanding sounds." The first song is 10 minutes long and starts off really noisy, and then there's some chanting, and then some balls out RAWK for the masses to enjoy, and then some other stuff. It's a total fucking mess! Gee. This album also has some folky shit here and there. The last song is a gospel hymn or some shit! Wow! One of these songs is in a different language. I can't tell if it's French or not. Who cares? I'm glad I only paid $9.99 for a new copy of this. Pretty good deal.
Rating: If you became an Akron/Family super-fan thanks to both of their 2005 releases, then you should get this album. You might like it a lot. Even if this album sucks, it's still less boring than Animal Collective, seriously. I give it a 90125! How about 9012Live: The Solos? Oh, yeah? How about Tormato? Such a question has troubled man since the dawn of time.
Song: "Gone Beyond"...I don't know if this is one of the better songs on here. I like it, but there's only three words in the whole song, and it's probably not the best track to play for someone if you want them to buy the album. Argh. I'm too lazy to upload anything myself, so you get these links to the record label's site, you vagina beast, you.
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