Search - Joy Zipper :: American Whip

Sometimes you find it

Daniel Leithauser | Grand Junction, CO USA | 06/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was way too strange. I heard 33x on XM's XMU station. I write down the group and song. I am unfamilar. I buy American Whip. I also buy the first album... with nary a listen at all. I think there are elements of Stereolab, Ivy, Flowchart, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and maybe even that vocal standard of Juliana Hatfield from just a limited exposure to a single song. I knows what I like. I jump.

When I get the album American Whip, I am reading thru the liner notes.. so who is doing some of the mixing? None other than Kevin Shields... what the.... no wonder I like it. I wondered what he was doing since there is no other MBV album on any horizon since Loveless. The sound is unmistakable... you can hear that poppy vocal sound along with great guitar riffs and analog electronics.

To say the least, both albums are excellent. They are on continuous play. I purchased everything else I could find. That should tell you something."

Whip smart

E. A Solinas | MD USA | 07/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If the White Stripes got really, REALLY stoned, they might sound something like Joy Zipper.



This talented duo smothers any sign of a sophomore slump in "American Whip," with its lush mesh of sixties psychedelica and shoegazer pop. The resulting album is languid, expansive and dreamy, but laced with a dark edge that you won't find in any Zombies or Beach Boys album.



The delicately blurred "Sunstroke" slowly opens into a whimsical little love song: "I need you more than the rain in springtime/love you more than the open sea." It's an exceptionally sweet song, and it does lure you in. But don't expect all to be happiness and light -- despite the colorful, hazy sound, the songs can get pretty grim at times.



Examples: The swirling lo-fi pop number "Alzheimer's" is from the POV of an old woman with Alzheimer's Disease. "Why do I keep forgetting my name?/Maybe it's something I ate/What is this terrible thing coming over me?" Vincent Cafiso drones. Parent/child alienation. And odes to "Drugs" and magic mushrooms.



Despite their obvious debts to bands like Stereolab, Zombies and fuzzy psychpop, Joy Zipper doesn't sound specifically like anything but itself. The duo's hazy, mellow music just sweeps the listener off their feet, as it brings to mind visions of California sunshine, summer days, flowery fields... and lots of drugs.



Cafiso and his bandmate Tabitha Tindale share keyboard duty, weaving a thick electronic fog around Cafiso's slow-burning guitar riffs and mellow basslines. There are some guest musicians, mostly contributing violins to songs like "Dosed and Became Invisible," which has a strong string presence from beginning to end.



Cafiso and Tindale have wonderfully synchronised vocals -- he sounds stoned and melodic, she sounds ethereal. And they're suited to the smart lyrics: "I dosed and became invisible/A compilation of my dreams/Exploded in my sleep." The "Alzheimer's" song hedges on bad taste when Cafiso sings about Ivory soap, but the lack of humor saves it from seeming grossly insensitive.



Like a shoegazer Fiery Furnaces or a stoned White Stripes, Joy Zipper churns out beautifully foggy rock music. "American Whip" is definitely worth checking out."

Great CD and great live show!

Eddie Badger | New York | 06/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw Joy Zipper play at the Avalon in Hollywood about a month ago and thought they were amazing. I had heard their album once before seeing the show and liked it, but now i'm just obsessesed with it. It's got that Beach Boy feel to it but with much darker lyrics. I highly recommend it!"