By Eric Butler
Let’s not be coy. “We Are the Lazer Viking,” an 11-track E.P. from the Philly-based band An Albatross, is loud, abrasive and chaotic. In fact, it’s downright noisy.
The band can’t keep a single melody going for more than fifteen seconds – hell, the longest song on the album doesn’t even last a minute and a half. Right away you realize this is something very different than your average band.
As for the music, An Albatross employs a heavy electro-synth sound that skitters all over the musical spectrum and dares your brain and body (assuming you’re trying to dance) to keep up. Regular guitars, bass and drums are also incorporated into the sonic onslaught, throwing furious tantrums of unmitigated energy. The end result is what I imagine to be the theme music rattling inside the brains of ADHD kids who’ve spent their medication money on Pop Rocks.
And then there are the vocals. This isn’t just yelling; this is shrieking. This is your own throat hurting as you listen to Ed Gleda’s vocal chords straining against the air being pushed out of his lungs. In their song “The Vitally Important Pelvic Thrust,” Gleda sums it up nicely: “We’ll scream so loud / We can’t even f—ing breathe.”
This is kind of unfortunate, because a lot of the song lyrics are entertaining. Take, for example, the album’s second track, “Let’s Get On With It!”:
“Let’s get on with it, Let’s get it on! / I said, the spectacle / You’re a witness of / Is a call / For free love! / Reclaim the sheets! / Out of the bedrooms and into the streets!”
What’s particularly interesting is the effect the music has on its audience. While you’re listening, all semblance of reality and civility goes right out the window, and for the album’s duration – all eight minutes and 20 seconds of it – you lose your mind completely.
It’s quite a feeling, actually.
The E.P.’s standout track is number four, “The Revolutionary Politics of Dance,” in part because it feels like it’s actually trying to be a song. There is a lot more structure and musical coherence here that really hooks you in and gets your toes tapping.
At other places on the album the instruments are kind of aloof and doing their own thing, like a preschool classroom with a few kids chasing each other around, others painting each other’s faces, and maybe one kid peeing in the corner.
And for some people, listening to An Albatross will be just as annoying as trying to coordinate those preschoolers.
This is the type of album – well, the type of music in general – that a casual or unsuspecting listener might literally run to the stereo to turn off immediately. Their sound is instantly jarring, and intentionally so.
An Albatross makes its listeners uncomfortable, but then, that’s kind of the point. There are practical effects to creating music that’s unsettling, and perhaps An Albatross is doing it to shake their listeners from their slumber and make them shake their butts. They wrote a song about it, after all, the aforementioned “The Revolutionary Politics of Dance.” Here’s a sample:
“Y’got the sweatpants and sexy striped kneesocks, / Our horned helmets, struttin’ the bad boogaloo. / Yes, it’s Lazer Empowerment, children!”
Okay, maybe that’s a bad example.
But seriously, An Albatross is trying to shake things up. The song “The Triumph of the Lazer Viking” offers a typical sarcastic wake-up call, saying, “Eat your vitamins on time. / Tussinned, healthy, and in line. / Pills and stomach chime, / Motherf—in’ feelin’ fine.” Other songs like “The Manifesto of the Divine Children” and “Electric Suits and Cowboy Boots” emphasize freedom and letting go of your inhibitions.
The most revolutionary vigor, though, seems to come during their live shows. “We Are the Lazer Viking” is also a CD-ROM and includes videos of some of their past performances. Every show appears much the same, with members of the band and audience jumping, flailing, shrieking, falling over and getting back up. If this isn’t an exhibition of pure personal freedom and release, I don’t know what is.
In short, bands like An Albatross are trying to bring about some kind of revolution, but instead of worrying about raising your consciousness, An Albatross cuts to the chase and just punches you square in the chest.
For anyone needing a good wallop, the band will be coming to Louisville this Thursday, Jan. 27, to play an all-ages show at the Keswick Democratic Club, 1127 Logan St. Also on the bill are The Power and the Glory and The Cinema Eye, plus local heavyweights Coliseum, Lords and Ayin. It all starts at 5 p.m. and admission is $6.
Their set will likely be an all-out freak-out session, so come prepared. An Albatross, as they’ve said, is a Lazer Viking, and they’re here to rock your block off.
Even if it’s just for eight minutes.
