On the cover of Quasi's newest album, a jagged lion leaps from a boom box. This is an apt metaphor for music that aggressively grabs its prey and does not let go until it has ravaged the listener's senses.
The Portland, Oregon-based duo, Quasi has a new album "When the Going Gets Dark," the follow up to 2003's "Hot S***."
The duo consists of Janet Weiss, the drummer of Sleater-Kinney and Sam Coomes, who has performed with artist Elliott Smith. With three years of time in between albums, Quasi have had a lengthy break to perfect their craft.
Unlike the more popular guy/girl duo The White Stripes, this group can't be pigeonholed into a narrow musical scene. Their music varies from psychedelic freak-outs to grungy blues numbers.
"The Rhino" features the strongest surreal imagery on the album, and showcases Quasi's lyrical talent.
"There's somebody watching you everywhere/ except in your dreams they can't see you in there/ at least not yet/ though some day they will try/ and on that day they'll see the rhino can fly," they sing.
"I Don't Know You Anymore" is the most conventional and strongest song on the album, complete with a straight-up rock guitar solo, showing a band with a penchant for experimentation that is not afraid to write a more traditional tune.
"Poverty Sucks" is a grungy ode that would not be out of place in the heydays of Generation X. Coomes calls on the listener to "never give up/ never give in/ poverty sucks but it ain't no sin."
Some of the more experimental numbers falter a bit under their own weight. "Presto Change-O" features repetitive guitar and drum beats that continue into a period of sonic dislocation. The distorted, unfocused ending deflates a fairly weak instrumental. The song takes too long to build up, and when it does, the payoff isn't great enough.
Quasi's sound proves not to be a simple throwback to rock styles of years past, but a lesson in how they should be integrated to form a cohesive whole. Coomes and Weiss are a pair of talented, dedicated musicians creating challenging music. This new release fits well into their past works, showcasing a band that continues to evolve.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
