Bear vs. Shark "Terrorhawk" CD
[Equal Vision]
Another strange full-length from this unusual indie rock band that, if nothing else, is a step forward from their debut, which just didn't do it for me. I wouldn't particularly say that the band has as much of an individual sound this time around as the vocals are (thankfully) easier to digest here, and their brand of dry distortion, jangly chord progressions, and hectic vocals isn't alien to my ears at all, but there's still something different about them, so that's a nice touch. This time around most of the vocals are sort of running around between yelling and singing, but the vocal arrangements can get pretty energetic and wild, and the "singing" is rarely true singing, so don't expect soaring vocal harmonies or anything like that. I wish they hadn't gone the route of tossing in occasional keyboards just because I don't really hang with much of that form of the hipster quotient, though to their credit they keep that stuff very much under control (not to mention infrequent), so I can live with it. Offered up are 15 generally concise tracks in nearly 45 minutes, so even though it initially appears that there are way too many songs, the album actually moves along without a hitch. "Catamaran" kicks out a lot of speedy energy and quick fits of discordance right off the bat to grab your attention and nail the point home that the band's made some changes in their delivery, and then "5, 6 Kids" drops into plenty of pull-off riffs and power chord surges accented by quirky textures. A few fairly standard (yet pleasant) tracks in, "Baraga Embankment" starts off with soft piano and vocals and suddenly opens up into some fucked up effects over the layered guitars and staggered percussion, eventually tossing in some unexpected horns for more of that artsy kind of sound (I'm starting to see the term "jazz punk" used way too often these days, but this is neither jazz nor punk, I don't care if it could be loosely tied to the two or not). "Entrance of the Elected" lets the basslines take more control and gets noisier with some caustic guitar picking to contrast a few quick flirtations with borderline catchiness - but it also becomes apparent with this track that these guys don't really mess much with traditional verse/chorus song structures, so it's cool that they're actually able to leave an impression and keep things flowing. The musically restrained "What a Horrible Night for a Curse" makes great use of vocal layering and really interesting vocal patterns that have a great roll-off-the-tongue thing going on before fuller distortion finally kicks in to close things out. "I Fucked Your Dad" (What kind of title is that!?) is another fairly chilled out number with some lush guitar drones and effects, but none of this stuff is terribly melodic per se. Of course melody plays a big role, but I want to stress that these aren't like catchy little poppy tunes or anything, and even by indie rock standards this stuff effectively builds off of the staples of the sound without really overemphasizing any melody or overly basic songwriting elements. "Song About Old Roller Coaster" is the longest track at six minutes, carrying on at a drawn out pace with some fuzzy guitar distortion and pulsing basslines complemented by fairly well executed keys, making for a really sparse composition at times - and certainly possessing the most moving vocal performance of the disc, which is an approach I'd love to hear more of in the future. The recording is great for my money. Everything is warm and clear, and there's a pretty strong balance for the individual pieces. The drums sound pretty god damn good, the guitars are well textured throughout their various forms, the vocals are crisp and hover tactfully ahead of the instrumentation without being dominant or distracting, and the bass is always there - granted a smidge more of the spotlight on occasion. I personally think they ought to give the bassist a touch more oomph all the time, but I can certainly handle what they've got going on here from a production standpoint, so you won't hear me bitchin' about that. Visually things are pretty strange, not unlike some of the weird artwork on their last disc, but not that far gone. Everything's printed on matte stock and the booklet has a great layered effect where each page is taller than the last, creating a stacked effect for the front cover. Sadly no lyrics are included and it's pretty damn hard to understand the vast majority of what's being said, so I have no idea what they're going for there... But for the most part this is a really solid record, definitely way better than their debut on numerous levels, not the least of which the fact that the songwriting is both more interesting and downright enjoyable. Not for everyone, but there's definitely plenty to offer here, and I'm really glad this is the progression they've made, because I wasn't so sure they'd win me over... but, hey, they did. I'm digging this. (7/10)
Running time - 43:59, Tracks: 15
[Notable tracks: Catamaran, The Great Dinosaurs With Fifties Section, What a Horrible Night for a Curse, Song About Old Roller Coaster]
Equal Vision Records - http://www.equalvision.com

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