Melody of a Fallen Tree
M. Stafford | New York, NY United States | 02/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"From my BlogSpot site: "The Boy Reviewer"
We Fight Til Death, the latest release from Dan Matz (The Birdwatcher) and Jason McNeeley, is by far WFTD's most accessible work to date. The influence of Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid, Bedhead), although he is absent from the current WFTD lineup, is still felt on this album. The opening track, "The Melody of a Fallen Tree," recalls an early Bedhead tooling around on top of the rhythm section from New Order's "Temptation." Anyone who has heard Bedhead's cover of "Disorder" can imagine this without taxing their imagination too much: just speed it up and add a melody. "For People Unknown" gives a nod to Can's "Mother Sky", but adds a certain emo feel to the oft-covered and oft-riffed tune. The organ on this track adds a nice dark touch. Imagine a ghostly couples-only song at a haunted high-school skate night, or any scene from Carnival of Lost Souls. "Black Coats" and "We Fight Til Death" are the most driving tracks on this album. Sombre, melancholy and raging at the same time, they represent a WFTD lineup that has found the right blend of rhythmic backbone and minor key introspection that have always been characteristics of WFTD, but rarely saw expression in the same track.
It's not too unusual these days for a new record to evoke the Factory Records sound, the washed thrashing timbres of Sonic Youth's alternate tunings, or the throbbing psychotropic dronings of a Kraut-rock dirge. What is rare, is for a record to distill the essential oils from each of these staples and combine them into a fresh, undated, non-derivative potion. Windsor for the Derby's latest album does just this."
Shoddy musicianship masking as edgy alternative pop
IRate | 09/29/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Windsor's attempt to go more accessible falls flatter then their usual overrated releases. I am all for repetition, but on this seemingly catchier release hardly any of it sounds different. Instead, the band seems convinced that layering any cheap melody and bland vocal on top of a boring tempo for a long enough time and we will have hypnosis. They might have fooled many with their earlier instrumental-driven discs, but with a heavy focus on more of a pop element, it has never been more certain that the group's songwriting abilities remain questionable at best while striving for an aesthetic that has always been beyond their grasp."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1