Tapes 'n Tapes: Walk It Off : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

It may strut its funky virtuosity like Prince, threaten to collapse in a drunken heap like the Replacements or rage like Hüsker Dü, but Minneapolis rock is always tuneful — an important comfort to folks freezing their nuts off most of the year. On the follow-up to their 2006 debut, The Loon, Minnesota's Tapes 'n Tapes hew to tradition, conjuring the Hüskers on "Le Ruse," a tirade on betrayal, with guitars and cymbals swarming like late-summer mosquitoes.

Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridman adds filigree without getting too psychedelic, while frontman Josh Grier channels his high-strung charm into songs that morph from rant to riff with ADD energy. "When you tease me, I'm alone in the battle of the bones," he warble-whines on "Conquest," a syncopated gem nearly as sexy as the recent White Stripes cover of the same name. Not everything is so distinctive, and there's some generic Modest Mouse/Arcade Fire indie histrionics. But the Tapes are finding their voice. And when "Headshock" sends its guitar groove skyward, the immediate pleasure makes questions of influence moot.

WILL HERMES

(Posted: Apr 17, 2008)

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2of 5 Stars

I've heard enough of this album by this hype-driven band, and it didn't take me long to inwardly exclaim TURN IT OFF! The truth is I've heard this indie rock album thousands upon thousands of times. I would wager that Tapes & Tapes never even bothered with the thought of being original. If you can get past that, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad.

On a separate note, I want to extend my personal kudos to the band for playing every single venue and non-venue @ SXSW 06, thereby setting the record and, more annoyingly, trend for subsequent "conferences." You know who you are, Raevon-19-sets.

(Recommended If You Like The Features, The Futureheads, Kaiser Chiefs)

Apr 2, 2008 16:39:38

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