27
Jul
2004
Less than two minutes into A Is Jump’s My Ice-Fingered Ghost, it’s readily apparent that even though this isn’t a typical release from the Quad Cities-based Future Appletree label, it’s a good match for the imprint’s oddity-laced pop sound.
A Is Jump is the first band on Future Appletree without a connection to the label’s founders; that’s why it’s not the usual fare. But the Cedar Falls, Iowa, quintet certainly works in what might be called the dominant Future Appletree sound: an accessible, gentle rock music that regularly jars the listener with touches curious, strange, and wonderful.
My Ice-Fingered Ghost’s opening track, “Peeling Space,” is straightforward and pleasant enough, blending a guitar style reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney with warmly realized male falsetto vocals. But at the 1-minute-41-second mark, a buzz jumps out of the speakers – you wonder if something’s wrong with the CD, or the sound system – followed by what sound like whale calls and a hasty exit from the tune into static. The message: Pay attention, because you never know what might be coming next.
Future Appletree is positioning this release as “a middle ground between GBV and MBV,” and the comparisons to the lo-fi pop-perfect fragments of Guided by Voices and the dense atmospherics of shoe-gazing pioneers My Bloody Valentine are appropriate more philosophically than aurally. A Is Jump employs pop and avant-garde styles without fully embracing either, but the sound doesn’t really recall either of those bands.
The result is accomplished songwriting and composition that keeps itself at an arm’s length, not quite catchy enough to invade your brain and a touch too conventional to fully capture the imagination. That’s both a compliment and complaint; the music is self-consciously cool, and while it succeeds, it tries too hard.
But it’s still an impressive debut. The band – Brad Brandhorst, Ryan Creery, Cory Hamilton, Philip Sterk, and Steve Wilson – is adept in both the pop and experimental spheres, although the intersections are often brief. The minor-key “Invisible Arms” is a lovely track with the smallest squall of electronic noise at the outset. One expects the motif to return, but it never does. Instead, the listener is treated to simple guitar and keyboard solos and a suddenly prominent bass.
For every relatively straightforward track, though, there’s something that pushes the boundaries. “The Sad-Eyed Truth” is anchored by a fuzzy bass line, while playful guitars cast a spell in the background, creating a hazy layer of pleasant sound. “Until the Roof Explodes” sounds like a refugee from a psychedelic ’60s band, with instruments and vocals muffled as if from underwater. “Restless Humming” follows, shocking because it’s such a simple little guitar-and-keyboard pop song.
While not every track works – “Everglade (Version)” wanders around aimlessly, searching for its hook and finding only feedback – My Ice-Fingered Ghost is assured and smart. For its first foray outside of its circle of friends, Future Appletree has done quite well.
For more information about A Is Jump, visit (http://www.aisjump.com). The Future Appletree catalog can be found online at (http://www.futureappletree.com).
A Is Jump is the first band on Future Appletree without a connection to the label’s founders; that’s why it’s not the usual fare. But the Cedar Falls, Iowa, quintet certainly works in what might be called the dominant Future Appletree sound: an accessible, gentle rock music that regularly jars the listener with touches curious, strange, and wonderful.
My Ice-Fingered Ghost’s opening track, “Peeling Space,” is straightforward and pleasant enough, blending a guitar style reminiscent of Sleater-Kinney with warmly realized male falsetto vocals. But at the 1-minute-41-second mark, a buzz jumps out of the speakers – you wonder if something’s wrong with the CD, or the sound system – followed by what sound like whale calls and a hasty exit from the tune into static. The message: Pay attention, because you never know what might be coming next.
Future Appletree is positioning this release as “a middle ground between GBV and MBV,” and the comparisons to the lo-fi pop-perfect fragments of Guided by Voices and the dense atmospherics of shoe-gazing pioneers My Bloody Valentine are appropriate more philosophically than aurally. A Is Jump employs pop and avant-garde styles without fully embracing either, but the sound doesn’t really recall either of those bands.
The result is accomplished songwriting and composition that keeps itself at an arm’s length, not quite catchy enough to invade your brain and a touch too conventional to fully capture the imagination. That’s both a compliment and complaint; the music is self-consciously cool, and while it succeeds, it tries too hard.
But it’s still an impressive debut. The band – Brad Brandhorst, Ryan Creery, Cory Hamilton, Philip Sterk, and Steve Wilson – is adept in both the pop and experimental spheres, although the intersections are often brief. The minor-key “Invisible Arms” is a lovely track with the smallest squall of electronic noise at the outset. One expects the motif to return, but it never does. Instead, the listener is treated to simple guitar and keyboard solos and a suddenly prominent bass.
For every relatively straightforward track, though, there’s something that pushes the boundaries. “The Sad-Eyed Truth” is anchored by a fuzzy bass line, while playful guitars cast a spell in the background, creating a hazy layer of pleasant sound. “Until the Roof Explodes” sounds like a refugee from a psychedelic ’60s band, with instruments and vocals muffled as if from underwater. “Restless Humming” follows, shocking because it’s such a simple little guitar-and-keyboard pop song.
While not every track works – “Everglade (Version)” wanders around aimlessly, searching for its hook and finding only feedback – My Ice-Fingered Ghost is assured and smart. For its first foray outside of its circle of friends, Future Appletree has done quite well.
For more information about A Is Jump, visit (http://www.aisjump.com). The Future Appletree catalog can be found online at (http://www.futureappletree.com).
