Crazy Like a Fox
When the first week of January delivered Animal Collective's almighty Merriweather Post Pavilion, I was sure that there'd be no other LP I'd listen to more in 2009. And whilst it's still the defining disc of the ought-nine, for me and many, there's a dark, dark horse that's recently been receiving unending, unexpected repeat-play from me.
Crazy Dreams Band are a crew of noise-music scenesters from deep in Baltimore's experimental music community, whose strange, amazing album —a self-titled debut delivered by outsider-psych imprint Holy Mountain— will surely charm fans of folk like These Are Powers and Gang Gang Dance.
Fronted by a pair of performance artists turned musicians —Alexandra Macchi (AKA Lexie Mountain, head of Carpark-issued avant-gardist vocal troupe Lexie Mountain Boys) and Chiara Giovando (half of droney duo Harrius)— and with Mouthus member Nate Nelson on drums, CDB come steeped in histories of difficult listening. Yet they couldn't be more easy to listen to: knocking out a joyous, jam-band racket that stumbles a line between exuberant classic-rock-approximation and shambolic capitulation.
Loosely embodying rock'n'roll form, they seem forever on the brink of collapse, even when at their boldest, and brightest. No matter how messy things get, Crazy Dreams Band have a crazy way of making ad-hoc experimentation sound utterly anthemic.
What Dreams May Come?
Though there's no guitarist in sight —the lineup is drums/bass/keys/vocal/vocal— Crazy Dreams Band certainly don't lack for licks. Nick Becker has an overwired moog set to stadium-rock blast; the opening riff of the mind-altering "Separate Ways" cranked out with sheer exuberance. Even when the rhythm-section and the dueling vocalists are letting things get more free-form, Becker keeps things big and melodic, the centerpiece of their self-styled psychedelia.
But Crazy Dreams Band are most notable for their twin singers; lead by Macchi, who belts it out in a bluesy, boozy roar that sounds not so much like Janis Joplin back from the grave, but Janis Joplin rotting in her grave. Giovando serves as a higher, clearer counterpoint, but she's also unafraid to let loose, at contorting her voice into shapes unfamiliar and unexpected. Both of them are daring to the point of ridiculousness, feverish to the point of tuneless, leaving nothing in reserve as they dredge up the grunts of language.
And that's the most endearing, enduring thing about Crazy Dreams Band: they let it hang out. Where other bands seem impossibly timid, as if their desires to be 'liked' or 'cool' or 'popular' are keeping them prisoner, CDB are unafraid to take a leap of faith. That could've lead them to falling on their face, but, gladly, their debut album truly takes flight.
Record Label: Holy Mountain
Release Date: December 2008
