Search - Quasi :: When the Going Get's Dark

From Darkness into Light

D. Michael | Portland, OR | 03/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some fans of the 90's Quasi sound may find themselves truly left in the dark with WTGGD, but those adventurous enough to follow along with this band's journey will be unduly rewarded with their hardest hitting recording to date. Pounding piano riffs and psychedelic guitar flourishes abound, along with Janet's always dead-on drumming. Alice the Goon and The Rhino get to album off to a heavy piano destroying start, with all of the charm of early Quasi invigorated by the new found heaviness in their sound. The politics of their last release is still evident but less emphasis has been placed on name calling, replaced by a call to own up to one's beliefs. With a top notch melody, Peace and Love is a wonderful continuation of the sentiments in the Nick Lowe/Elvis Costello What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding, sung by Sam with a heartfelt urgency. Poverty Sucks could have been an acoustic folk strut on Led Zeppelin 3, except for the lovely Sam/Janet harmonies on the chorus, and lyric content which makes it clear whose side of the economic scale Sam Coomes is on.



Death Culture Blues continues Sam's flirtation with the blues, with stomping, off kilter rhythms and chromatic counterpoint popping in just before the vocals start, giving a big shot of energy as the album comes to a close. The topper and show stopper is the closing track, Invisble Star, which slowly builds from a hymn to a furious Robin Troweresque guitar workout, coming to rest amongst shattering distorion and feedback. This band has made it clear that they are not about repeating the past. The adventure continues."