Not liking the font; "Hey, the image is better though, John Q. Kritzler. Thumbs up."
The Kritzlers – “Head in the Ether” MP3/download
Excitement … that prickly feel of electricity in the air; can you feel it or what? Spine-tingly joy is all mine when I get a fresh 7-inch in the mail because I like to RIP and RHYME and REVIEW and, sometimes, when I’m wrong, REDACT. So THERE.
The Kritzlers sound like something my family, which on both sides is tangentially connected to Jew-dom, would serve during Sater or something similar. Is it a foggy soup? A roll? Something to nosh-nosh?
NO. This is a band with a new 7-incher out on Loomernescent Records; one which, if time and luck serve, I will review … below … right … NOW SO GO READ IT!!!
“Scarlet Sometimes” is the Side B and I’m flippin’ all over it for some reason. I think “Head in the Ether” is the Better Song, if I were pressed to name a victor — and lord knows reviewing 7-inches it’s hard not to pit the two sides, literally, against each other — but “Scarlet” is the letter I-be readin’ more often than no.
There’s no doubt I’m reminded of several other bands of the other past in other places on the other map. The first thing I flash to — WOAH! — is that Warlocks record where they went all doo-woppy, albeit with a major shoegaze boost, and pissed off Mute … or was that the other way around? Either way Bobby from Warlocks was one of my old Skyscraper Magazine interviews and definitely one of the most memorable because ol’ Bob was railing somethin’ FIERCE on the major-label grind (more specifically, Mute was causing a mutiny in his skull-ull-ull). Hey, he’s friends with Anton Newcombe, what do you expect?
Back to “Scarlet Sometimes.” Think that opening scene in Lost in Translation wherein the Dirty Vegas sloooow-fuzz roll is playing. Think flanging till there ain’t no more guitar to flange. Think Kevin Sheilds, who coincidentally also worked on Lost in Translation, as a more summery guy that wears scarfs and has the patience for tick-tock-’round-the-clock synths. Think weak M83, or maybe strong M83, actually; think buzz, scuzz, grit ‘n’ dirtclods gettin’ yr boots all mushy on the bottom. Think Karate Kid II choppin’ the SHIT out of a robot Peter Cetera … hell, that might be the thought to leave on …
“Head in the Ether” is the tune The Kritzlers knew they could count on to be just a little more popular than “Scarlet” with the club kids, but truth be told I could go either way (yeh? bleh? meh? eh?) on this one were it not for the very, very fortunate lead guitar riff that reminds me of so many ’80s bands, many of whom were on MTV (imagine that!) back then, that I don’t know where to start; I guess I’d launch with U2 but then what? INXS? EMF? Stereo MCs (from the ’90s, I know)?
I’m lost, but I can’t stop ear-chompin’ on that guitar line, and it’s a good thing, too, because it occurs on this 7-inch like weather occurs in nature (pretty much all the time, right? Not really … not really a need to include this lil’ joke but I thought it’d be funny somehow), popping up like that dude from college you’re on good terms with just to say, “Hey man!”
As much as I’m trying to get excited about the post-shoegaze/clubby/groooovin’ stuff of bands like Archie Bronson Outfit and Sleigh Bells, I must admit the mellower vibes on this double-taker 7-inch strike me as a lot more appealing, not to mention much more pure in the shoegaze sense, and mellower and … well SHIT, I guess ABO and S. Bells aren’t the best comparisons to put in the game right now, but I get sick of drudging up the same old bands (MBV, JAMC, Lush, Ride, Chapterhouse).
When’s something modern going to allow me to forget about the grrrreat ones that made me who I am today? I’m growing increasingly old, no?
