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New Wet Kojak

 
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April 2003 Rock Pop Alternative
Written by Vinnie Apicella   




Staff Rating
9.0
out of 10
Reviews
Artist: New Wet Kojak
Title: This is the Glamorous
Label: Beggars Banquet Records
First time I heard 'em on 2000's "Do Things" I was blown away by the level of ease with which they conducted an otherwise confounding and inconclusive, almost unclassifiable record that lay somewhere between bedroom eyes, kissing bandits, and blaring sirens. And upon the earliest moments of their new "This Is Glamorous," that same fluid effect, it's like a slo-mo cruise through empty city streets, clear and dark, with only the occasional moonlit flicker for guidance; and yet the guitar harmonies, often picked and chordless till the chorus, echo and fade, tilting forward before giving ground to quirky dissonance; such a key motivator from the start, and atypical of the unlikely, glamorous and inglorious atonal and moody effects that play upon the subtle yet independent notion of life affirming Pop played without premise. The tone is amiably catchy, occasionally disturbing, and led by a fluid mix of guitar notes, percussion, woodwind, and synthesizers coming together, drifting apart, but never straying far enough for mid-range support. 

"The World Of Shampoo" and "Supermodel Citizens USA" offer up jazzy and lush soundscapes at the onset, harmonious and impacting with little effort; "Nothing You Can Say" is befitting of the romance novelist searching for that perfect mood where the stars collide and a gentle calm precedes the impending lust of two love starved souls; The further along I go I'm beginning to wonder about the song sequence here as it's listed - the benefit of the bookless advance? We might call this easy listening for the impressionist mind; or we might suggest the outlandishness of The Psychedelic Furs, Sub Pop, and The Melvins and start somewhere in the middle for referential purposes. Save for the few moments where driving Rock guitar, drum, bass and techno heavy movements cross the wires of comfort in a head-tilting throwback to post-modern extremes seconds before the credits roll - "Jealous," "Reverse The Curse" -an ambient cool and calm prevail on this thematically loose, alert, and usually aloft flight through incandescence and underground charm.



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