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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Live Review Sorry No Ferrari at Criminal Records, Sat., Jan. 29

Posted by Chad Radford on Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 8:58 AM

Brett Kelly
While watching Sorry No Ferrari play a Criminal Records in-store on Saturday (Jan. 29), a wave of long-forgotten ruminations on the nature of “math rock,” for lack of a better term, were unexpectedly stirred up. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when angular rhythms and complex time signature changes were a dominating force in American indie rock. It was the mid-to-late ‘90s and there was Thrill Jockey Records - the whole Chicago scene and all that came with it: Tortoise, June of 44, Dianogah et. al. All of these bands were connected by an aesthetic that now defines the era. Sure a lot of the music felt like a background searching for a foreground, but the records were always a pleasure. But the one act that I never could with was Don Caballero. It is undeniable that drummer Damon Che was part super-human, and part metronome. But their music was just so jockish, uptight and driven by a tangle of overly confident riffs and break-neck changes.

I digress, but it’s to illustrate a point. Don Cab’s sound is a clear touchstone for Sorry No Ferrari, but getting your head around their songs is a fundamentally different and far more engaging experience. When these five accomplished musicians — Jonathan Balsamo (drums), Brett Kelly (guitar), Drew Mobley (bass), Nick Pantano (electronics) and Chad Shivers (guitar) — get together and play, the pursuit of perfection is going to happen, it’s just the nature of the beast. For their show on Sat., SNF zeroed in on bubbling, polyrhythmic fugues that took shape long enough to pique my ears before shifting into different, melodic configurations before the groove could where out its welcome. What sets their songs apart is that they’re actually catchy, and there’s always a new, compelling rhythm waiting around every sharp turn. And it is always easy to tell which two/three members of the group are playing interlocking parts because their heads bob in unison, out of sync with the rest of the band.

In the middle of their show one of my more jaded acquaintances handed me his cell phone. On the screen he had typed out “wanktoberfest,” and sure, you can’t play music like this without falling into self-indulgence to a degree. But it’s plain to see that these guys are making music the only way they know how, and they’re not playing to prove a point. Sorry No Ferrari is laughing with you, not at you, and that makes the music a lot easier to take in than that of the band that pretty much defined the genre in which their songs reside.

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Thanks for the nice words!

For those who have not heard "Ternary" yet, you can listen to it right here: http://www.stickfigurerecordings.com/relea…

take care

stickfigurerecordings.com

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Posted by StickfigureRecords on 02/01/2011 at 4:17 PM
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