The Double U
And The Glands of External Secretion
[VHF]
Rating: 6.8
Carrying on like demented school children strung out on crystal meth,
the new untitled record by San Francisco's Double U inspires both fear
and awkward admiration. Presented as 11 songs, it is a jarring, sometimes
revelatory experience that defies every attempt at categorization.
The disc appears to rely more on instrumental music, although a smattering
of garbled cackling noises, mashed piano playing, and dangerously cheesed-
out keyboards percolate through the mix. Occasionally, the songs sound as
if they could be theme music from an acid- damaged children's show where
pre-teen Stereolab members are allowed to serve as the house band. A Tom
Waits-ish character croaks along to tracks like "March to Valhalla" and
"Emperor Jones"-- he sounds legitmately troubled.
Disc two features all the same tracks "demixed" by the Glands of
External Secretion, and the result is totally surprising: Where there
was once a basic drum beat, there's a drum beat run through enough
reverb to make your head ache; where there was once a semblance of a
song, there's a song where odd sounds are jarringly interspersed with
the former source material. And that already tortured voice? Well, you
can almost hear the soundwaves being scrunched against their will.
The Double U disc was mad enough-- the Glands' mix leaves one searching
for a new word to describe the necessary elevation in craziness.
Needless to say, this type of music is not for everyone-- People who
don't take drugs probably just won't understand, and those who do will
undoubtedly want more.
-Samir Khan