Quasi: American Gong (CD on Domino Records)

Band: Quasi
Label: Domino Records
Title: American Gong

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Band:Quasi
Title:American Gong
Reviewed By:Chris O'Toole
Date Published:17/02/2010

Label:Domino Records
Format:CD
Release Year:Label
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While it would be easy to dismiss Quasi as a side-project, a vanity for core duo Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss to indulge in their spare time, the sheer joyous exuberance, childlike glee and ramshackle racket of their latest album - 'American Gong' - quickly allows listeners to dismiss the thought. While Coomes has moonlighted with Jandek and Built to Spill, Weiss has been performed with arguably an even more illustrious cast; taking her place behind the drums for everybody from Sleater Kinney and Stephen Malkmus to Bright Eyes and Elliot Smith.

With these stars behind them, it would be easy to assume it would be impossible for Quasi to shine in their own right. But what a mistake that would be!

Quasi have a sound all of their own; packed with squawking, distorted guitars, rampant, contagious drums and marauding bass-lines. The last of these is down to new recruit Joanna Bolme, who was recently appointed a full time member of the band. Each of the ten tracks here fizzes with imagination; disparate components are thrown into a mixing bowl and emerge as one spitting, leering, gorgeous whole.

Tracks like opener 'Repulsion' and 'Death is Not the End' could pass for chart-toppers in a more rational universe, while there are also longer freer jams – such as 'Bye Bye Blackbird'. Here the trio let rip into a semi-structured, grimy freakout; while they never stray beyond the realms of their pop roots, they certainly aim to get as high as they can within their confines. It is the sound of three musicians pulling in different directions simultaneously; Coombs may pluck a punchy guitar melody before being knocked off balance by a blast of fuzzy bass from Bolme or scatter gun attack from Weiss on the sticks.

Slower pieces – including 'The Jig is Up' – illustrated a controlled, more focused sound. A simple guitar line allows Coomes to stretch his vocal chords; sounding inches from total desolation, the band manage to keep it together long enough to make it through each number. Coomes may conduct the band, deciding in which direction to head, but it is Weiss who propels the group toward their not inconsiderable heights.

But luckily this far in – with this being their tenth album proper by some counts – the group all know to look over their shoulders to check in which direction everybody else is headed, allowing them to rein in their excess before it spirals out of orbit completely. A particularly good example is 'Rockabilly Party' which shows the group rocking an Americana sound, but always pulling the power chord before any danger of pomposity. A worthy addition to an already bulging curriculum vitae.

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Exuberant and imaginative indie rock on tenth album from Quasi, the other project of Built to Spill guitarist Sam Coomes, and Janet Weiss, the drummer for both Sleater Kinney and Stephen Malkmus

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American Gong - CD
Exuberant and imaginative indie rock on tenth album from Quasi, the other project of Built to Spill guitarist Sam Coomes, and Janet Weiss, the drummer for both Sleater Kinney and Stephen Malkmus

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