Posted by Jack in 2010 | 0 Comments
Have Sex in a Bowling Alley: Gayngs Bangin’
The only criticism I’ve heard about Ryan Olson’s super producer collaboration project, Gayngs, is that sometimes Relayted (due out May 11th on Jagjaguwar), sounds like music that you could have sex to in the back of a bowling alley. Apparently the staff over at Fader hate bowling, and sex.
It’s true that there is an element of a self-aware perversion, both musically and sexually, on certain tracks from Relayted, especially the last 30 seconds of “Ride,” during which someone is either climaxing or sawing a plank of wood in an airplane hangar, but overall the album is a smooth construction of slow-motion beats, subdued instrumentation, and electric pianos. Ryan Olson, along with his assembled justice league of indie music’s mutants ft. Justin Vernon and Solid Gold, may have brought sleaze into the mainstream; especially considering the amount of love the albums first single, the aptly named, “The Gaudy Side of Town,” is receiving from all corners of the music word for it’s drugged funk and ghostly choir.
For anyone not sold on glorified porn music, just check out “Crystal Rope,” which spends it’s entirety teasing you with an echoed chorus of congregated clicks and two clavi keyboards lines, one low pitch, one high. From there the album goes on to “Spanish Platinum,” which opens with a wailing ballad guitar, only to have it silenced by what Pitchfork calls a “…shimmying, Kenny G sax”.
Sometimes the tortoise pace of Relayted becomes overwhelming and you start waiting for the moment of release when Olson et al. choke up on the metronome. “Faded High,” is the closest that Relayted ever gets to a standard tempo, and it’s a seven minute trip with some of the albums most enjoyable moments, especially the first four minutes when the album looses most of its pretension and three vocalists sing three catchy hooks.
The final song “The Last Prom on Earth,” is also the name of a show that Gayngs is throwing in Minneapolis on May 14th. The show may be the only time where every member of the group will play be on stage together. It will also be the last time you’ll be able to flash the official Gayngs sign in public and be understood.
The GAYNGS Sign from GAYNGS on Vimeo.
Mp3: Gayngs – The Gaudy Side of Town
Mp3: Gayngs – Faded High
