The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Every Tuesday, the Sounding Board is a space for a short-ish review of an upcoming or recent-ish release and conversations about new-to-you music. We’ll get things started with a write-up about a newer, likely underheard album, and invite you to share your music musings in the comments.
Adult DVD, a Leeds band with a name that’s dangerous to Google in public, has surprisingly good taste.
Generally, when bands take inspiration from industrial music in general, and Nine Inch Nails in particular, they draw from the commercially and critically successful stuff from the mid-’90s. That’s understandable. Those albums were not only good, they had staying power.
The edgy, bleak, druggy stuff that was somehow all over the radio and era’s most omnipresent soundtracks never really went away. Dark monuments to alienation, loathing, despondency and disaffection still show up in best-of-the-decade lists, serve as shorthand for settings and characterization in other media and have become reference points for other genres.
Adult DVD; however, isn’t afraid of getting down in it and reaching at least a little further back. The band’s relentless self-titled debut is a fit of synth-driven, snarky rebellion that strongly echoes Pretty Hate Machine, early Ministry and the harder edges of both New Order and Depeche Mode.1 When Adult DVD is firing on all cylinders, the band’s approach to the material is invigorating, irrepressible and capable of delivering pleasant surprises.
Of course, the band pairs those sounds with the same sensibility that compels Harry Hanson, Greg Lonsdale, Danny Blackburn, Jake Williams, Jonathan Newell and George Manson to operate under the Adult DVD moniker. That sense of humor combined with an album that is, aside from the guitar-forward “Cold Caller,” basically consists solely of angry, maximalist synth pop, occasionally steers the LP in annoying directions.
The brief spoken-word bridge on “The Steaks Are High” that announces the end of Adult DVD’s A Side is the worst of it. 2 However, the ultra-manic “Real Tree Lee,” and “Cowboy On Aisle Three” aren’t drastically better. “Real Tree Lee” is an ultra-manic character song that never quite settles into a groove. It sketches out the unpleasant life and views of a ghillie suit-clad, straightedge would-be militia leader. “Cowboy On Aisle Three” is significantly catchier, but is also basically a novelty song about a cowboy going grocery shopping. The cowboy is also depicted as inconsolable because his wife recently left him. The romantic incompatibility is not further explored, but Adult DVD suggests the dissolving relationship is the flighty, impulsive woman’s fault.3
Adult DVD’s high points easily offset the occasional clunker. “Ghillie Suit” is a stuttering slice of ‘90s electronica with minimal vocals and a beat that could send a club-goer through a wall, and “World’s Best Boss” is both extremely catchy and a legitimately funny lament of workaday life, with a hyperfixation on pen theft.
“Coffin Dodger,” is even better. It gets off to a fast start, cramming bursts of jackhammering synth in between gigantic spiky pulses of electronic noise while Hanson describes his ideal funeral. 4The last chord of the rapid-fire synth line echoes, glitches and warps into a big, dumb thumping beat. It pounds as Hanson chants, “Call me egotistical, I wanna see my funeral,” while orchestra hits bounce around the track like ray gun beams in a futuristic firefight.
A lot of bands have recently been playing around with ‘80s synth sounds, but none of them sound like they’re having as much fun as Adult DVD in “Coffin Dodger” mode.
The gleeful, all-id exuberance is undeniable, contagious and capable of overwriting any lingering memories of lame jokes about gorillas, cowboys or cannabis-using cows.
About the writer
Ben Hohenstatt
Ben Hohenstatt is an Alaska-based dog owner who moonlights as a music writer and photographer.
For more information, consult your local library or with parental permission visit his website.
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The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
Superstore, Season Two, Episode Ten, “Black Friday”
“There is a buzz in the air, a charge that… probably isn’t showing up on camera.”
“This is gonna be better than 9/11.”
“I just made that up. You’re on spills and trash.”
“I lied. It was seven mugs, I just didn’t want you to judge me.”
“That’s too much juice.”
“Who cares you initiated it, Adam?”
“Sixty! Sixty-one! Yeah, that’s right, I’m going up now!”
“Yes, you can get pregnant from that angle.”
“It’s all hands on deck, so stop your Myspaceing and get on register.”
“Ew. No. I want a bribe.”
“Tom Hanks is a space man who’s saved by a bunch of nerds.”
“I’m one of those people who hates being sick.”
“Hot take, Mateo.”
“And then the volleyball floats away. And then you’re sad about it. Or at least I was.”
“It’s called war profiteering. I remember that in social studies.”
“E-readers are half-price. Garret out.”
“Wow. We’ve lost Brett.”
“Did something just happen? I think I blacked out there.”
“I also said I’d never vomit on a toddler’s head. Lot of firsts today.”
“I’m not gonna let a bunch of deal-hunting rubes make me feel bad for Dina! Which I did not think was possible!”
“Sir! You accidentally drove over my daughter’s doll!”
“Not accidentally!”
“Find every breath mint in the store and meet me in the break room in ten minutes.”
“Jonah? Could you please shut the [BLEEP] up? And that goes for all of you. I can’t stand to listen to your [BLEEEEEEEEEEP] for one more damn second.”
Beat
“Did something just happen? I think I blacked out there.”
On that note, McKinney is so good as Glenn. It’s a funny performance and not just a funny voice he’s putting on.
Elementary, “Sand Trap” – A woman developing a vessel that can clean polluted waters is killed to cover up her discovery that so much sand has been taken from the Hudson River that a nearby bridge is in danger. The overall form of the mystery is a bit obtuse, but this is based on the real “Sand Mafia,” Indian gangsters who make money harvesting sand illegally and selling to industry. But the most interesting stuff involves Sherlock returning from three months away to recover, and Watson moving ahead with plans to adopt. The core here is the college student who is deciding whether to have Watson adopt her baby, and how after seeing what Watson is capable of, she decides to keep the baby. Not sure if this is a paean to single motherhood, or an unwise decision by a 20 year old.
The Twilight Zone, “Execution” – Once you accept the premise, this one is pretty good. More to come.
Barney Miller, “Abduction” – Parents unhappy that their adult daughter has joined a “cult” first complain to the cops, and then try to kidnap her. The episode does not portray the leader of the group as being anything besides a bit weird and also a surprisingly good restaurateur, but is also sympathetic to the parents and to the daughter. Doesn’t hurt that the leader looks Jesus and enters to a bookie at the precinct at that moment saying “75 to 1 he isn’t who we think he is.” Meanwhile, Harris sells his first short story to a porno magazine and is aghast when it’s turned into something other than what he submitted. So begins his literary career.
Werewolves Within – This is like one or two script drafts away from being a good movie, especially with some jokes that only got mild chuckles from me at best. (You know there’s a problem when the “ominous” quote at the start gets the biggest laugh.) I’d have preferred Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub in a different movie, maybe a romantic comedy, as they’re naturally likeable leads. Interestingly, where this is in a fictional Vermont town, the video game it’s based on is set in a medieval village and that is innately cooler to me.
Been rewatching Superstore S2, inspired by Tristan. Still laugh out loud funny for a network show in part because it isn’t afraid to go dark and the writers know Cloud 9 is a heartless corporation where The Office, especially later, always pulled punches. Glenn is genuinely shocked whenever he realizes the workers are high and/or don’t like their jobs. (In their defense, a paper company isn’t quite as awful to workers as a big box store.)
I always knew I was not just a trendsetter, but perhaps a father figure to some of you.
I do think the satirical element of Superstore is a core strength to the show – it gives it an extra bit of weight to something otherwise deeply fluffy and a bit lacking in the core relationship.
“a bit lacking in the core relationship” what’s it like to be wrong?
You’re a fan of the bickering? Or is it the other way around and you think the relationship has zero value whatsoever?
(1) I think teasing and bickering can be their own form of intimacy and (2) the show does a better job than, say, Ross and Rachel of portraying how they have similar core values and can work really well together. (There’s a later episode this season where Amy takes Jonah’s advice that she doesn’t have to take care of something that isn’t her problem.)
Tremors – when the opportunity arises to see this film on a big screen, with an enthusiastic audience, I take it! A childhood favourite that still 100% holds up for me, I love the characters, the setting, the dialogue, the FX. There’s such a weight and consistency to the practical FX, I am never in any doubt that they actually found and cast several real giant worms who all give superb performances. I’m not sure I stopped smiling at any point, what a movie.
What did we listen to?
Lulu, Metallica with Lou Reed
Unexpected part of running through all Metallica for the first time: I finally ‘get’ Lulu. I listened to it back in 2011 and thought it was unlistenable garbage. I listened to it again last year or the year before when I was going through the music of Lou Reed and thought it was unlistenable garbage (though intrigued by David Bowie defending it as a masterpiece). Listening to it again now, I suddenly and immediately got it from the opening guitar chords. I think a big part of me getting it now is just getting more of Metallica’s deal, and recognising how they’re playing with their own sensibility; what sounded like boring metal riffs originally (and what is frequently dismissed as them flailing around) is something I now recognise as them trying to make a Lou Reed song fun for them to play.
Reed’s songs are structurally simple – my favourite of his is literally just verse-verse-verse-verse in terms of chord progression – and Metallica is so used to structural complexity (even in their more pop albums like The Black Album) that you can hear them pushing against the limits they were presented with by Reed, and I really enjoyed that, to the point that I was like “Oh, this is what Metallica sounds like to their fans”.
Meanwhile, Reed’s melodies that I previously thought of (and which most people think of) as incoherent came off this time as him finding these tiny gaps in Metallica’s sound and filling them, and it became fun to listen to, to the point that I was shocked at how much sense it made. I’ve had vivid shifts like this on works, but I’ve never had this vivid a shift in my perspective on anything, let alone music. Like, I want to go back and listen a few more times.
Old Ways, Neil Young
Straightforward country, which is hilarious after all the ironic and experimental stuff he was doing for a while there.
Well, I Should Have…, Jon Benjamin – Jazz Daredevil
This is a joke jazz album by H Jon Benjamin where the joke is that he’s never played piano before and has little interest in jazz; there are three sketches and one song with lyrics in which he raps in a quasi-British accent about anal sex, and otherwise it’s simply his terrible piano playing over a great jazz band, something that’s hilarious from its opening notes. You can hear him getting more confident over the course of the album, not that that means much.
Three Dollar Bill, Y’all,
Aggression with unspecified targets. Fred Durst has exactly the voice he needs for this music: deeply distressed but with a strong tinge of ironic distance. This also sucks, just to be clear.
Blank Check, “Cape Fear” – Suddenly the episodes are of a reasonable length, which is good since I don’t think i would want anything longer about a movie even its admirers here admit is hard to watch. (I think they go too easy on the stuff with DeNiro and Juliette Lewis, but my tolerance of such things has dropped to zero.) I want to thank Eve Anderson for watching the Cape Fear TV show so I never have to. (Note to streaming services: stop turning perfectly good movies into open ended TV shows.) Kind of shocking to learn that neither Griffin nor David knows a thing about MST3K.
Seconded on the streaming shows, reading the recaps at least provided some entertainment value. Personally I think the Lewis-DeNiro scene is fantastic in it’s sheer, nasty discomfort. The rape scene is actually where I fast forwarded because it was so painful to watch.
1001 Albums, etc.
Frank Black – Teenager of the Year: never really dug into solo Frank, as a very casual Pixies fan it was never a top priority. Thought this was pretty good though, if overstuffed – with any kind of frantic indie-punk stuff I’m gonna favour the 30 minute album over the 60 minute one.
Girls Against Boys – Venus Luxure No. 1 Baby: didn’t know much about these but I dug it quite a bit. Not a million miles away from Fugazi etc. but with a darker, fuzzier, pummelling sound.
Jeru the Damaja – The Sun Rises in the East: after a lot of epic hip-hop albums I appreciated the brevity o this one, but the production and general vibe here wasn’t one of my favourites from the genre.
Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: I’m more of a Slanted & Enchanted fan but I do think this is a pretty perfect example of a band leaning towards a somewhat more commercial sound without losing their distinctive personality. So yeah, very good.
Portishead – Dummy: I was curious, after getting surprisingly into “Blue Lines”, whether this would continue my descent into decades-late trip-hop fandom. Sadly not though, there’s an appealing spookiness to the production but something about Beth Gibbons’ voice doesn’t ever quite click for me and it’s such a centrepiece that this leaves me cold despite admiring much about it.
The Sabres of Paradise – Haunted Dancehall: quite straightforward for a Warp Records album, I thought it might be a bit samey from the first few tracks but it won me over quite a bit by the end and I can see myself returning to this one. Good mix of cinematic synths and some gritty beats.
Nas – Illmatic: like Jeru above, I appreciated that this was a no-filler 40mins rather than a sprawling epic. I generally enjoyed the vibe too, there are some wince-inducing lyrics but the writing is otherwise sharp and the production is appealing.
Beastie Boys – Ill Communication: another band where I never quite get on with their general vibe, but I liked the diversity of sounds here – a good mix of hip-hop, punk and funk, with the instrumental tracks definitely setting an appealing vibe and giving me some respite from their vocals, which I just cannot warm to.
Elvis Costello – Brutal Youth: the final Costello appearance on the list and while he’s definitely massively over-represented here, I did enjoy most of them and this one is no exception. Plenty of Attractions powerpop fun and just a little of the softer “oh but he’s such a great SONGWRITER” sound that I didn’t click with on one or two of his earlier albums.
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Blank Check – Goodfellas episode fun, I like a guest-free episode but I feel like I missed a little extra energy here maybe? Halfway through Cape Fear now, Eva Anderson is always a solid guest. I haven’t really felt inclined to rewatch any of these familiar Scorseses though. I will be filling at least one blind spot this week though.
Screen Drafts – “Solo Slashers” was great fun, a ranking of slasher movies that didn’t get any sequels. I didn’t think too hard about my own favourites beforehand but I was pleasantly surprised by a few of the choices here and have added a couple of others to my watchlist. I don’t remember being THAT impressed by their #1 (The Burning) though.
Caroline Rose – Gentling the Horse at the Walt Whitman Mall
I strongly recommend this one!
This album fluctuates between goofy nonsense, odd character studies and the occasional emotional haymaker that actually connects. It also flits between every genre the artist fans call Uncle Carol has ever worked in. So there’s bits of Americana, synth pop, bedroom pop, rock and lots of vocal layering throughout.
This time, John Congleton is producing, so it all sounds cogent and professional.
Tonally, I’d compare it to something like I, Jonathan, but a smidge less grand.
So Much Irish Music
In the last month or so, we’ve gotten new albums from (in order of my personal preference) Gilla Band, the Mary Wallopers, Gurriers and Fontaines D.C.
Each LP was pretty well covered, but fans of noise need to check out Pugnello by Gilla Band. It manages to be abrasive, danceable, dark and funny.
The Mary Wallopers are a trad-punk band in the vein of the bands that made sure Hot Topic always had some T-shirts with shamrock or Celtic cross designs. They’re spry and really home in on the punk side of the equation.
Gurriers are a fine young rock band that I didn’t quite click with, but I plan to revisit.
I think the Fontaines D.C. album was their weakest to date, but it also declined to do any of the broody, moody or hard-rocking stuff I’ve most enjoyed in their past albums.