Review | Sarongs, Sarongs

Sarongs, Sarongs
May 2011, Prison Art
Highly Recommended

Sometimes, recording a band known for wild live shows is like putting a lion in captivity: The thing that was a predatory beast in the wilderness becomes a lazy cat in a confined space. Luckily, surf-punk rockers Sarongs faced no such problem on their first EP. There's undoubtedly a yearning in the songs to be played live. But on this debut, tight musicianship compensates for any loss of energy between stage and studio, and Sarongs deliver all the experimentation that made them a hit when they began playing last year.

On some level, the album still

embraces that garage-y rawness. Throughout Sarongs, drummer Wes Garlock and bassist Tyler McAndrew

adapt well to the frantic rhythmic changes demanded in the songs, keeping up with sudden shifts but also keeping them grounded. Guitarist Andrew Nerviano, never content with one riff, fearlessly explores the fretboard. Elias Guinn's keyboard-playing has the same spirit of variation, never strictly ambient or rhythmic, altering between both as the song demands it. And Lindsey Leonard's crazed vocal variations never try to tie the arrangement together, her verses shifting between songs, chants, and occasional squeals. She's fearless when it comes to inflection and dynamic range, and her lyrics contain a healthy

dose of rock 'n' roll poetry, à la Patti Smith. On "Pixel," she alternates verse-chorus between sinister girlishness and a sinister drone.

But Sarongs' shifts and spasms aren't capricious — their brand of rock is musically tight to the core. Each song shows an impressive use of rhythmic variation, from the unexpected slow-dance of "Middle Management's" first half to the surreal conclusion of "Munsters." The band has a real penchant for sudden change and is not afraid to switch the mood from thrash to waltz mid-song. Rhythmically, they avoid repetition and routine, although when they do embrace a beat, they do it well. "Slobodon" is one of the tightest songs on the album, with an impeccably paced lead-up and an explosive climax

at the one-minute mark. There's a similar inventiveness at work on "Munsters," arguably the most demented-sounding track on the album, which starts as a funhouse ride and climaxes into a screaming surf-punk orgy.

Angular riffs, chanting, screaming, jazz chords and dissonance are all fair game in Sarongs' melodic bloodbath. The group is fearless with experimentation in a way that doesn't come off as gimmicky or self-conscious.

That experimentation won't appeal to everyone, of course. The band's weirdness doesn't alienate in a live setting, where frantic drums and chants sound danceable. In the studio, however, Sarongs demand more of the listener's attention and patience,

especially on tracks like "Middle Managemen" and "Hotel California," where the shifts in rhythm suggest a band experimenting for itself, rather than for its audience.

But in many ways, that degree of risk-taking is what makes Sarongs so impressive as a young act. They honed in on a voice without subscribing to a formula, and they avoided the growing-pain pitfall of so many fledgling bands: too much repetition and too much emulation. On their first EP, Sarongs are a completely different animal — and not at all an animal in a cage.