Transient, the Norman noise outfit’s second LP (if you can call it that) marks a departure from the sprawling psychedelic anthems of its self-titled debut. At eight songs, this mini-album effort clocks in at less than 14 minutes, with each track less than two minutes.
The
band — front man Chris Harris, guitarist Derek Lemke and bassist Tommy
McKenzie — calls it “a full-length album, for the modern attention
span,” and it’s nearly impossible to resist pegging this as the
songwriting equivalent of Twitter, penning tunes in 140 seconds or less,
but that would be underselling Transient. Compressing a song down to its core isn’t a gimmick, it’s a good idea.
There’s less fat on Transient than Ryan Gosling; it’s a lean, mean collection of killer Goth-pop diamonds that never wear their welcome.
Opener
“Running” struts out of the gate like Buffalo Bill headed out on a
date, followed by the guitar-shredding “Unknown” and Transylvanian disco
track “Coast 2 Coast.” “Turn Me On” is vintage My Bloody Valentine with
a strict editor, while album highlight “You’re Alive” is a brilliantly
catchy case study of the intersection of shoegaze and post-punk.
Recorded in Harris’ own Hook Echo Sound studio and released through London-based label Club AC30, Transient is available on vinyl or as a download beginning Tuesday. —Joshua Boydston
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This article appears in Mar 13-19, 2013.