Sic Alps Description Of The Harbor LP (Awesome Vistas)

Head and shoulders above the (quite nifty) last one - the one with the spraypainted VW parked in the Northern California mist - this new LP is most unshitty. Its like a clowncar at the circus, but instead of bursting at the seams with a bunch of pathetic assholes in makeup and stupid outfits, its bursting at the seams with lovely and mysterious melodies all recorded at the far-end of the reverbiest drainpipe west of the Pecos. The two Sic Alpers manage to knock the ball outta the park in the first two minutes with a gorgeous (I think that’s the first time I’ve ever used that word my entire life, but its the only way I can describe it) take on the title track/cover of the Strapping Fieldhands tune before it dissolves into shudders and sonic scrapes. But instead of more noise workouts, the flipside [also the name of a horrible magazine – ed] is nine psych tunes that drift miles above what you’re used to, all enveloped in lush clouds of echo. Sometimes the Alps sound like Colin Blundstone & co. minus a couple of singing lessons, simplifying their chops and recording in a nice wet cave. Sometimes they sound uncannily like the folkier Velvet Underground documented on bootlegs before Lou Reed’s mind split open or they were chugging through unnaturally aggressive instrumental takes of ‘Guess I’m Falling In Love’. But the entire time, they sound great, and the songwriting is firing on all cylinders - not a single clunker in the entire barrel. You know who I hate? Robert Hillburn. What a piece of shit.