AM/FM
Getting into Sinking
[Polyvinyl; 2001]
Rating: 7.5
It's become increasingly apparent to me over the past couple of years that the
Beach Boys are a significant influence upon approximately 58% of today's indie
rock bands. Yeah, maybe this should've been obvious to me a lot earlier. But
bear in mind that my formative Beach Boys experiences were a 1986 concert by
the dreadful "Kokomo"-era Mike Love incarnation I saw with my parents, and that
"Full House" episode where John Stamos filled in on drums. Horrifying.
Even in my recent enlightened state, I'm still surprised at the ubiquity of the
Brian Wilson Sound, given that it only produced one album unanimously considered
to be a masterpiece. Perhaps the Beach Boys continually open peoples' eyes to a
variety of elements: the un-ironic falsetto vocal, the joy of nonsense-syllable
lyrics (e.g. ba-ba-ba's and dooby-doo's), the tasteful blending-in of orchestral
instruments, and the use of crystalline harmonies. Or maybe today's indie rock
horde saw themselves as responsible for fulfilling the potential lost when Wilson
surrendered to his insanity and his bed during the Smile sessions.
Wait a minute, who is this review about again? Oh, right, AM/FM.
To pigeon-hole AM/FM as yet another Beach Boys homage would be overly simplistic--
the band seems less directly inspired by Wilson & Co. than by bands who are
themselves inspired by the Beach Boys-- not to mention Nick Drake and his legions
of clinically depressed devotees, or more contemporary artists like the Coctails
and Death Cab for Cutie. All of the above can be heard in the sonic casserole
of Getting into Sinking, to various degrees.
But still, it's the Beach Boys thing that I can't get out of my head, and I think
it's caused by more than the duo's frolicking-through-sand-and-surf cover art.
Brian Sokel and Michael Parsell have a knack for dreaming up melodies that sound
familiar without sounding derivative, then tactfully using a wide arsenal of
instruments to flesh out their vision. And it's all packaged up with the optimism
and pep of a pre-manic depression, pinstripe suit-wearing Brian Wilson.
Getting into Sinking bursts out of the gate with the anthemic "Virgins!
Virgins!" and "If We Burned All the Assholes the Earth Would Look Like the Sun,"
two songs with titles more appropriate for a Slipknot album, but harboring content
that glitters with pop sensibility. The former combines lovestruck backing vocals,
reverb-drenched guitar, and lazy drums into a package so smiley-faced I can
(barely) forgive lyrics like, "There are so many songs about rainbows/ But what's
on the other side?" "If We Burned" has a similar flair, carrying a hook like a
pirate-ship captain, and working up a joyous cacophony by throwing in the some
Elephant Six circus-style horns.
The album never again reaches the heights of these opening tracks, but bounces
enjoyably between sunshine daydreams and AM/FM getting their Garfunkel on: a
fairly straight reading of Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye"
and the coffee-shop folk of "I Was Never Here Two Seconds Ago." Missteps come
from the exceptions to this formula, like "It Fell Out of My Head," where the
programmed percussion, repetitive guitar riff, and jarring chants sound like a
less feminist and less catchy Le Tigre. "Come Suck Down a Cloud" attempts to
build to a choir-fueled climax, but seems flat and forced compared to the album's
simpler tunes.
Getting into Sinking comes off like an album engineered for springtime,
where the increasing temperatures and longer daytimes make even the hardest heart
vulnerable to a innocently catchy song's viral attack. The dozen tracks within
may not be the most memorable or groundbreaking ever recorded, but AM/FM's
cheeriness is contagious enough to inspire nationwide Frisbee-throwing. Somewhere,
Brian Wilson tips his fireman's hat.
-Rob Mitchum, March 1st, 2002