posted 09/25/2008 (Thu) @ 08:00 am
>>> Music Reviews
Search/Rescue - The Compound (2008)
Pop / Rock / Indie
Pop Art
- Fireflies
- Museum
- Holding On
- Right Through Me
- Where Sea Meets Sky
- Waking
- Great Big War
- This Is For You
- The Shame
- 94
Between the lines, Search/Rescue’s band name contains an intriguing query: an and/or proposition. Is it “Search & Rescue” or “Search or Rescue”? Decisions, decisions. And who is being saved? Hopefully, in a continuation from their former projects’ unspoken (but sometimes sung) mission statements, the members of Search/Rescue aim to rescue the listener from bland pop and rock which sometimes pervades every nook of air/shelf space.
Hailing from the ashes of two great, but obscure rock bands—power-pop troupe Acceptance and Gatsbys American Dream (bookwormy, prog-flavored punk rock)—Search/Rescue’s assured decision to release their debut on CD only in Japan (and MP3 everywhere else) earlier this year was one informed by a lifetime of bad experience in the music industry. In the words of guitarist Bobby Darling:
“We wanted to make a record, but we didn’t want to get in bed with labels here in the states and get dragged down the toilet with their careers, so we found a Japanese label that would pay for our recording and have no contractual rights to our music here in the states.”
They come out with their game face, but pitching friendlier music than the brainy, through-composed punk of Gatsbys. Much less angular than their past projects, this time the guys are playing everything straight: pulsing, crotcheted drums and bass, emphasis on embellishing simple melodies with spurts of arpeggio.
More reminescent of Acceptance, slowed and softened, “Fireflies” immediately endears the listener with the one-two punch of music and words: “When they come raining down all around us/ Like snowflakes and fireflies/ When we know the end is near/ I will stand beside you.” The flow of “Waking” mirrors an early rise: a slow ascent peppered with heartbeat bass. It sounds like someone’s literally squeezing the song, tweaking and prodding until the chorus pours out its lazy, head-in-the-clouds splendor. And albeit camouflaged in smiley pop, the collective fatigue felt by the band still peeks through for those keen to look for it: “Because you/ You’re in control/ And it’s always been that way/ My schemes they don’t mean a thing to you/ I’m lost, I’m lost, I’m exhausted.”
Standout “Right Through Me” swings right into your ear with a straight-faced hook akin to the work of such tunesmiths as George Harrison or Roy Orbison (think Traveling Wilburys, or Harrison’s “Cheer Down”), but with a modernized feel. If, like most pop bands, they must wear their influences on their sleeves, it would be hard to find better influences. And Search/Rescue are undeniably a pop band. A happy one at that; career mopes need not apply. All the songs on The Compound fall within the three minute range, the supposed “perfect” time for a popular song, and they all possess a singularly “soaring,” barely-restrained jubilant tone despite any thematic differences in the lyrics.
Although The Compound is an extremely solid release, especially for a debut, detractors may decry the lack of a band-endorsed “try before you buy” option. Keep in mind that without the luxury of Radiohead or Nine Inch Nails money and grassroots influence, Search/Rescue probably find it difficult, if not impossible, to justify giving away their music for free. Nevertheless, The Compound follows in the footsteps of In Rainbows and The Slip, as Search/Rescue give those who “hate music” a big middle finger once again, and record on their own terms.
Fans of their gumption might also be interested in the myriad of Gatsbys American Dream off-shoots which have shot up in the last year or so, including the lovey-dovey pop-punk of Red Red Blue, McLusky wannabes Keith Ledger, and the promising Zero Cool, a collaboration between Darling and Tom Dutton, lead singer of Gatsbys sound-alikes Forgive Durden.
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Tags: anti-riaa, best of 2008 candidates, bobby darling, gatsbys american dream, melody, pop, soaring
