Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Symbolick Jews "Confession Time"


The Symbolick Jews are a constantly morphing ensemble of unique musicians, based in San Francisco and fronted by Adam Healton (RMF, Madam Im Adam). Regardless (or perhaps because) of the revolving cast, the Jews have cranked out one hell of a debut album here with Confession Time, and they have been touring up and down the West coast in support of it for good reason!

Simply put, Confession Time rocks. The titular track kicks off the album with a bang. Dual guitars moan and snarl like junkyard dogs, and distorted cymbals crash all around your head like ocean waves. Adam has a lot to say here, and at times it's easy to get caught up in the cacophony of it all and take for granted this man laying out all his insecurities in under two minutes.

The song "Banana" is a fun take on 50's doo-wop, with bassist Alexi Belchere on lead vocals. At times, her voice is a bit too "cute" to effectively sound as angst-y as I assume she meant it to sound, but she brings a fresh angle to the couple songs she sings on this record, and "Banana" is one of the catchier, more unforgettable tracks because of it.

Other songs, "The Book of Love" and "What Does It Mean?" bring things down a notch, but in volume and tempo only. Both are slow but intense pieces that stand out as personal favorites on the album. The former sucks you into a void of undulating static and amp buzz, gently lulling you into a false sense of serenity. The latter brings to mind walking through Golden Gate park on a warm summer evening at sunset, the guitars buzzing around like lazy flies.

This is only beginning to scratch the surface of Confession Time, and I hope you'll download it and listen for yourselves. Fans of shoegaze, garage-rock, psychedelic noise, Velvet Underground, early Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine should definitely check it out! -Matt


Listen to "What Does It Mean?"


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