I.M.A.O. – Ariel Pink – “Before Today”
Hey kids! Today I’m reviewing this fairly new album in a way that doesn’t slob all over it like some publications are doing! Lets take a look at the most objective and scientific view of Ariel Pink’s New Record, shall we?
For some bands, stepping out of the comfortable lo-fi world is a difficult transition. In this world, mistakes are masked by charming amounts of distortion and cassette-tape compression. When the band in question releases their hi-fi debut (almost always by a bigger label than the one they had initially been with), old fans realize that they have been listening to a trained pop group this whole time, and in their mind, the music starts to suck. Just ask the members of Ween or Guided By Voices about it. Luckily for Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, it is a smooth transition; and I do mean smooth.
Before Today is more than a mere hi-fi-record-by-a-previously-lo-fi-artist, it is a record that is tighter and more cohesive than Pink’s previous efforts. The veil is lifted to reveal an artist who really knows what he’s doing and his vision is clear. Though, now recording with a full band, the compositional results do not appear to differ much from his previous albums. Just as Worn Copy or The Doldrums had, high-energy white boy Motown jams sit along side with his meandering, spacious tracks.
The opening track, Hot Body Rub, fades-in to the middle of the one-riff jam, this is not really the best way to open a pop record. Though the song is somewhat interesting, it would definitely sound better in the middle of the album. The next track, Bright Lit Blue Skies, really gets the album going, and this is where the listener feels like the album really starts. Its’ everything a pop song should be – energetic, catchy, and fun; without a doubt, it is the strongest song presented on Before Today. As party continues with L’Estat, which takes a similar forgotten AM soul approach, the song takes strange detours to get to the hooks and back. Songs like these could be considered to be Pink’s signature style. Round and Round, Beverly Kills are like-minded in this fashion; they flow well together and are an absolute pleasure to hear.
Butt House Blondies is the only major clunker on the album. The opening fuzz-laden lazy metal riff just doesn’t fit in with the blah Floydian verses. When the starter riff comes back, is most unwelcome. After multiple listens through the album, this is one I always skip. Another song I mostly like, but could do without, is the next track, Little Wig. Little Wig’s introduction is a problem. The chord progression used in the intro returns as a turnaround between the verses and the choruses; it does work in this context. In the beginning, it creates an unsettling tone to start the tune on, which is likely the intention of the artist. Otherwise the song is fine, but due to the awkward beginning, I generally tend to skip it, so I can get to the proceeding track – the fantastic Can’t Hear My Eyes. As a listener, I can’t help but wish there were more songs like this on the rest of the album. Tinges of Doobie Brothers-style R & B or Electric Light Orchestra’s softer moments float through what is probably the smoothest song in the last decade (or more).
With the track Reminiscences, the band gives us a solid library-music jam that might have appeared on a grocery store’s training reel in the 1970’s. Pink keeps the groove on a plateau with Menopause Man. The final number is a weird one, even for the group in question. Revolution’s A Lie, an obvious nod to Joy Division, Suicide, Bauhaus and Seventeen Seconds-era Cure, doesn’t seem too out of place, though it is skip able. A single steady bass line bobs through out the near four-minute song, with layers of noise and Ariel’s signature monotone weaving in and out of it. Sequentially, it is an interesting choice for a closing number, but an end of an album is where most bands put their weirder material.
An obvious point of discussion regarding this album is of course, the high fidelity, and how it differs from other Ariel Pink albums. The quality of the recording isn’t over-blown like most modern pop records. The kicks and snares weren’t compressed to death; the vocals do not invade all the sonic space. The tone is dark, and saturated but flatters both the upbeat and the drearier, dreamer songs. As far as production goes, Before Today is flawless. Even keeping the production aspects in mind, I would say the main departure this album takes from Pink’s past work, is the newfound sense of brevity. Worn Copy begins with a ten minute slog-fest called Trepanated Earth, and the album clocks in at an hour and fifteen minutes (a total of seventeen tracks), whereas Before Today comes in at a modest twelve tracks, and around forty-five minutes. Somewhere before this album came out, Pink and Co. figured out how to cut through the bullshit and keep the album moving (mostly).
With the power of fidelity on their side, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti might be only an album away from an absolute pop masterpiece. Any fans disenfranchised by the movement away from lo-fi should give this album an honest listen. There is a lot to like, nothing to hate, and it is a worthwhile listen over all if nothing from a production stand point. In the end, the music is what matters – I can’t say that I’ll be jamming this out in my car everyday, but It might find its way back to the stereo if I’m in the mood.