Tapes N' Tapes

Walk It Off | XL
By MIKAEL WOOD  |  April 15, 2008
1.5 1.5 Stars
tapesINSIDE
Last time we heard from this young Minneapolis quartet — and if you spend any time on the Internet, you heard a lot — the story had little to do with music. Instead, Tapes ’n Tapes told a tale of process: a new business model for scruffy rock bands looking for a safe way into (what’s left of) the record industry. That’s old news now — dug Crystal Castles yet? Which puts Tapes ’n Tapes in the position of having to earn your attention with their songs. They don’t always succeed on Walk It Off, in part because producer Dave Fridmann’s oversaturated-in-both-senses-of-the-word indie-psych sound does them no favors in their attempt to establish an identifiable TNT brand. (Who needed another reason to confuse this record with the sophomore set by fellow blog faves Clap Your Hands Say Yeah?) Frontman Josh Grier and his mates have some kicky post-Pixies fun here, and Grier offers a memorable image in “Conquest” when he walks “alone through miles and miles of bones.” But their last narrative was way catchier.

Tapes ’N Tapes | Paradise, 967 Comm Ave, Boston | April 17 | 617.562.8800
Related: Tapes 'n Tapes, Tapes ’N Tapes | Outside, Chop shop pop, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Tapes 'n Tapes, Dave Fridmann, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,  More more >
| More

Most Popular
Blogs
 More: Phlog  |  Music  |  Film  |  Books  |  Politics  |  Media  |  Election '08  |  Free Speech  |  All Blogs
ARTICLES BY MIKAEL WOOD
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS | FURTHER  |  July 07, 2010
    Astralwerks (2010)
  •   DEVO | SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY  |  July 01, 2010
    Given the theory of de-evolution these Ohio brainiacs began expounding more than 30 years ago, it makes a sad kind of sense that Devo's first album since 1990's Smooth Noodle Maps offers such a charmless, base-level version of the band's synth-addled new wave.
  •   TAIO CRUZ | ROKSTARR  |  June 24, 2010
    When Taio Cruz sings, "I can't live without you," in "Take Me Back," pop-song conventions tell us he's referring to a lover.
  •   THE FUTUREHEADS | THE CHAOS  |  June 16, 2010
    "I wish that I could stop the noise," sings Barry Hyde not long into The Chaos . It sure doesn't seem that way.
  •   BETTYE LAVETTE | INTERPRETATIONS: THE BRITISH ROCK SONGBOOK  |  June 01, 2010
    Bettye LaVette’s previous two albums had titles that required a little digging to unpack.

 See all articles by: MIKAEL WOOD

LATEST SLIDESHOWS

All Slideshows