WET HAIR - "In Vogue Spirit" LP (De Stijl)

  Wet Hair have crafted for us their most playful and colorful record to date.This time for the ultra-busy De Stijl label.Shawn Reed and Ryan Garbes have been playing together for quite a while now, both being ex-Raccoo-oo-oons, they display an effortless and natural syncopation, and their musical chemistry is in full bloom on In Vogue Spirit.They seem to find their way back to one another at every turn, whether locked into a deep groove, or spiraling through a ten minute free-form tangent.Their last few releases have shown them gravitate towards a more streamlined, palatable sound, focusing more on carefully structured movements.Reed's low, mumbled vocal style has been transformed into a bright and colorful instrument, and his range has certainly widened quite a bit, too.Garbes' drumming is spot on, as usual, keeping things right n' tight on all fronts.Where as with the earlier, and exceptionally minimal WH releases, it seemed as if he was filling in the gaps and open spaces with his controlled chaos, In Vogue Spirit barely has any of them.The songs are full and fully realized, with the occasional jaunt into abstract improvisation, but the majority of the album is focused and free, tightly wound and coming apart at the same time.

  "Echo Lady" is a perfect example of that statement, with it's breezy organ run and steady bass rumble, jogging along to a simple drum groove.They've taken a poppy psych-rock approach, and traded in the electric guitars for a pile of homemade electronics and deep vibrato organs.Reed's voice has a bit of stylish swagger to it, similar to one-time Night Person -Dead Luke's slightly tone-deaf crooning.It's right where it should be, and perfectly out of tune.Reminds me of La Dusseldorf's less mechanical repetitive pop perfection.THIS is how you start off a record.The following track is somewhat of a return to their minimal kraut leanings, with a breezy tune called "The Garden Room".That old Wurlitzer percussion fades in, possibly set to "Rumba", bringing along a drive of melodic bleeps and blips for the ride.It's a slow and steady drift down a river of analog trickling and casio ripples, and things are starting to sound like Wet Hair.The vocals are a bit incoherent and warbled, but delivered in an uplifting tone, creating some good vibes.There's a bit of knob twisting at one point, as they stray into more free-form synth runs, and then it's right back into Ralph and Florian style chorus hooks.This sort of awesome, stop and go control is all over this record, and the songs just seem to get better and accessibly weirder as it plays on.I wouldn't exactly call them polished, I would call them carefully spit-shined.They've taken their deep electro-collages down a few new uncharted territories, and the results are epic.The days of Suicide-esque blankness seem to be ancient history for Wet Hair, but they are an unpredictable machine, so we will just have to see.Check out their recent splits with NOTV, Rene Hell, and Peaking Lights, and an upcoming 7"/art book on NNF.Total ear and eye candy.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE/WET HAIR - "Split LP" (Night-People)

  Australian duo Naked On The Vague pair off with Iowa City duo Wet Hair, for a dazzling new split LP.Both of these acts have been gaining quite a bit of recognition over the last two years, with extensive touring in both AU and the US, as well as a string of solid releases from both bands.NOTV's side, shows the duo toying around with a more sprawling, shoegazey approach to the blasts of harsh no-wave that dominated last year's Heaps Of Nothing full length.The brittle guitar tones on "Cryptic Tonsil", might pay homage to someone like Kevin Shields, rather than Glenn Branca or Thurston Moore, and is easily the band's most accessible work to date.It's watery vocal harmonies flow slightly out of key, creating a nice contrast to the lush keyboard melodies and rich guitar chords.The rather haunting last track, "Send Them Sailing", is another slow ride, only this one takes a shortcut down old cemetery road, passing plenty of ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK and NO TRESPASSING signs along the way.The ghostly organ lines and skeletal guitar notes flutter down the same winding path, made up of minimal percussive clicks and rattles.NOTV's side is definitely a step into something more ethereal and colorful, but it's all just as dark and brooding as anything we've heard from them.Keep an eye out for their upcoming Twelve Dark Noons film score.

  Wet Hair are a duo from Iowa City that features Ryan Garbes on drums/percussion, and Shawn Reed handling the vocals, electronics, and other sound manipulations.Both are ex-members of the now defunct Raccoo-oo-oon.Shawn owns and operates Night-People Records, which released this split, and they both have their hands deep within the graphic design and art communities.Wet Hair has released a whole mess of tapes and ep's, as well as two highly acclaimed full lengths.These dudes are the workhorses of experimental music right now, and they always seem to be churning out something that's original and well received.Their side of this record kicks off with a rather playful and driving tune, and their most pop-oriented piece of music yet.The driving organ lines are something that you're likely find on a Nuggets compilation, with their hip-shaking melodies and cheerful vibes.Garbe's sturdy drumming stays mostly in the pocket, and plays right along side the pace of the keys, then you begin to wonder, this is the same Wet Hair?Yes, the very same band that gave us last year's incredible "Glass Fountain" LP, only their fits of tumbling Suicide worship,have blossomed into something a bit more sonically palatable.Reed's woozy vocals spill from his mouth in typical WH fashion, only more melodic and tuneful this time around.The sun-baked "The Labor of Love" is another  that showcases the duo's heart for early pop music.It's church-style organs are worthy of a classic Doors or Turtles tune, yet their piles of homemade, and bent electronics allow the songs to radiate, with a modern and inventive approach.Their days of heady psych-droning and lengthy electronic haze may be somewhat non-existent here, but this is definitely Wet Hair, and this is definitely their most accomplished of recordings.Hail to both sides of this.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

PEAKING LIGHTS/WET HAIR - "Bored Fortress(year 4) split 7" - (NNF)

  I will just say this ahead of time.I've been a big fan of both of these acts nearly since their inception, around the mid 00's, and this release is by far their best to date.In my opinion.It was part of Not Not Fun's amazing Bored Fortress split 7" club, and has recently been released on it's own, along with the rest of the series.I will get around to reviewing them as they come to me.Be patient.Or, just go buy them, they all pretty much kill.
  Peaking Lights is a blazing mystery duo from CA.They have a slew of releases out there, including a great 12" and cassette on Shawn Reed's Night People label.On "Birds of Paradise", they keep it deep and creep with a wash of hazily soaked synth-jabs, and sprawling drone-devices that come in flux.This track is kind of similar to earlier Ducktails ventures, with some awesome low-end machine clatter and heavily stretched out dub worship to top it off.A choppy reggae guitar-clank rides over top of things, and keeps it lite and breezy.They are sort of known for their semi-tortured/woozy female vocal styles, and they are pretty prominent here, with some help from a slurred sample that i can't make out.All in all, a pretty cohesive slow crawl into the muck.Awesome stuff indeed.
  Shawn Reed and Ryan Garbes' Wet Hair project fills up side b, and they take us for a few wild turns on this one.I am kind of a sucker for this band.They effortlessly take all my favorite bits and pieces of Suicide, Throbbing Gristle, classic kraut, and their former beloved animal guise Raccoo-oo-oon, and throw them all into a circuit-bent blender.The result is a heavy, dubbed-out, minimal psych groove-machine called Wet Hair.Their homemade analog machines and treated synths push them a step ahead of others trying to swing this kind of stuff, indeed.Shawn Reed's croon is not too far off from Martin Rev's low mumble, and it works good for them.On "Blessed", the duo take an even deeper dive into beat worship, with a thicker, more heady machine bounce.They cleverly split the 808 swagger between the left and right channels, giving off a sweet stereo-panned vibe, with one side a half step ahead of the other.It gives the song that "second drummer" groove, that Fugazi and Black Eyes(R.I.P.) sucked us all in with time and again.Glad to see someone is out there is thinking.
  This new, more tuneful approach to their craft reminds me of the more sprawling Kraftwerk project, Ralph and Florian.The beats begin to double and triple, as the keys continue with a lush, simple melodic drive.The vocals aren't anything too out of the ordinary for them, with some distorted delays added to the howls.A definite bump in production, and slightly catchier, and even more uplifting than their previous efforts.I'm already stoked on what they will do next.Killer art layout by the band.Look for a new Wet Hair/Naked On The Vague split 12", out via Night People, now!