I’ve been vaguely obsessed wit this song for the past few days. While the E6 collective were too-often deified (and later written off) as 60’s revivalists, their best work managed to transcend their Wilson/Lennon/McCartney fetishes to reach altogether weirder and more experimental territory. “Black Foliage Animation” from which California Demise originates is the perfect example: a sprawling 27 track opus full of noise collages, brilliant pop songs and subtle recurring themes; it defies conscious understanding (and review) working best on a primordial level, preferably one reached through copious drug use.

A decade’s end list’s worth of bands have consciously tried to “advance pop music” in the 00’s but the results have often been forced or uninteresting for anyone without horn-rimmed glasses. The Olivias somehow managed to make music far weirder than the average Art-history degree toting New York band while somehow keeping things inviting and tuneful. Placed smack-dab in the middle of their most daunting album, California demise starts off as a riffy Horse-with-no-name aping strummer before exploding into a fuzzed out acid-fueled Southern-Gothic poem about pyromaniac saints and nocturnal angels. There are horns, guitar solos and the best use of an accordion this decade by a non-Colin Meloy affiliated band. And that’s before the disorienting breakdown, return to the original melody and intentional digital skip (can you catch it?).

Download:

MP3: Olivia Tremor Control - California Demise

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm and is filed under Elephant 6, Sach O. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.