HIDDEN GEM: Tapes 'n Tapes won't get its commercial release until the summer
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This buzzed-about Minneapolis indie combo just signed to XL Recordings, superhip home of M.I.A. and Dizzee Rascal; next month, the label will give The Loon a much wider commercial release, which should increase the number of people buying a copy of Tapes ’n Tapes’ debut rather than downloading it. Until then, The Loon (first issued last year on the band’s own Ibid label) will remain a secret little gem of fuzzy post-Pavement guitar pop. Like Stephen Malkmus and his merry men, these guys regard noise and distortion and weird song structures as their birthright; they grew up in an era when lo-fi became more of an aesthetic choice than an economic necessity. But they’re also in love with melody and their parents’ Kinks LPs, and The Loon throbs with the band’s unwillingness to choose between the two sides. For now, they’re better at the quick, dirty rave-ups than the slow, tender ballads. (On a debut album, who isn’t?) But Tapes ’n Tapes are moving at beyond the speed of sound; if the pace doesn’t kill them, it’ll make them stronger in a hurry.TAPES ’N TAPES + FIGURINES + COLD WAR KIDS | June 5 | Middle East Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.864.EAST
On the Web
Tapes 'n Tapes: http://www.tapesntapes.com/
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