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This is the first full-length from Ticonderoga, a shape-shifting Raleigh, North Carolina trio with an anything-goes approach to their individual roles in the band—all 3 members are credited with "vocals and instruments." The songs are built up from ever-changing layers and combinations of instruments such that the band comes across like a much larger ensemble. This album makes a deceptive first impression, starting out with a dark, distorted guitar rocker complete with guitar solo and bashy drums whose unkempt Malkmus-esque quality gives no clue as to the kind of art-rock experimentation to come. After that point the album defies all expectations and predictability. "Centipede" features electronic sounds that can only be described as "blootchy" (that's bloopy + glitchy) along with melodica (or accordion), trombone, and an a capella breakdown. The violins on "Snakes" are played more like fiddles, even though it's hardly a hoedown, and the song is driven by an incessant electronic bipping that moves from the background to the foreground as the song picks up intensity at about the halfway point. "Poison Control" is another rocker, but with a much different feel, inflected with Moog and less off-the-cuff. The album's occasional sinister tone is present on "Flippin' Burgs," which sports a mean fuzz bass and vocals which give it a feel like a weirder Andrew Scott-penned Sloan song, not to mention a discordant horror-movie-violin interlude in the middle. "Country Mouse" places the focus on the lyrics, with attention-grabbing imagery and oblique turns of phrase like "this desperate xylophone," "burn the strings with calloused fingers meant for a guitar," and "lost my trendy shoes / sold my closest friend." The song is punctuated with crashes of out-of-tune church-basement piano and ends with an echoing loop of what sounds suspiciously like a Frogger game. As an example of the way the band uses instruments, the bassline on "Town" is contributed to by piano, keyboard, and trombone. The album closes on another sinister note, with drones of feedback and tinkling Nosferatu piano.
Despite some parts sounding constructed in the studio, this album is recorded with plenty of room ambience that gives it a live feel. Many of the songs wed the complexities and experimentation of post-rock with a woody, Southern feel, particularly on the acoustic-based tracks, coming across like a collaboration between Gastr del Sol's David Grubbs and Clem Snide's Eef Barzalay. Percussion is a real secret weapon on this album, with impressive drumming that ranges from heavy-hitting to brushed to swinging to deconstructed. This album is hard to get a grip on, with as many esoteric moments as accessible ones, but if you're up for the challenge then the whole makes for very rewarding listening. (mike.05.06)
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