Akron/Family

I saw the Arkon/Family warming up for Jon Rae and the River some time last week. For the most part, they were too loud for my earplugless brain to really appreciate, but the brief snippets that I heard through the buzzing sounded quite interesting. The CD turned out to be substantially more mellow than their live show and is really quite pleasant. I've read reviews that lump them in with the non-existent 'freak-folk' movement, but I think that's probably just lazy critics associating the band with Devandra Banhart because they're also on M. Gira's Young God Records. If I were to put them on a bill with like minded bands, I might match the Akron/Family with the Animal Collective or Joan of Arc - bands that try to combine a melodic, pop-oriented approach and sonically experimental sensibilities. The result is a sound much closer to the Animal Collective's Sung Tongs than it is to Joan of Arc's albums, though (which in my opinion too often sound a bit too art-school smug). Worth checking out, even if only for the fantastic cover art.

Akron/Family - Running, Returning

The first half of this song is a dense thicket of layered instruments and voices, built primarily around a simple banjo line but suffused with a driving rhythm. The vocals really make the song, though. They have an ideal amount of distortion on them and, when the singer begins to search for those higher notes, he actually succeeds and to great effect. After the midway-point, the song is transformed into a beautifully executed, if not a little sloppy, jangled classic-rock, folk guitar breakdown. It makes me regret not buying both of the CDs they had available at the show.

[Buy their album from Young God Records]