Tortoise | website | facebook | twitter |
Released on January 22, 2016 via Thrill Jockey
I must admit, I had some trepidation about this new Tortoise record. The last couple have been pretty lackluster affairs, so I didn’t have high hopes. But still, as a long-time fan, I was intrigued.
Unfortunately, the Chicago collective doesn’t seem to have progressed much in the intervening five or six years since their last record. The Catastrophist opens with a smarmy synth riff that could have come straight out of a 70’s corporate training film. As the smooth vintage washes drift past, the track starts to resemble a Charlie’s Angels soundtrack. Not an auspicious start.
The second song opens up a bit and mines some of their TNT-era hypnotic ambience. It’s pleasant enough, but neither a shower nor a grower. Then, holy Mary mother of fuck (!), they attempt a cover of David Essex’s 1973 hit ‘Rock On’ and it’s fucking terrible. Not even the inclusion of vocals by fellow Chicagoan Dead Rider’s Todd Rittmann can elevate it from pure dreck. Someone (probably multiple people) thought this was a good idea? Seriously WTF?
Just when I’m about to bail altogether, Tortoise finally hits its collective stride on ‘Shake Hands With Danger’. Its kraut-rock propulsion, jazz-skronk, and honest-to-god grandiosity actually sound like vintage Tortoise — when they were on the leading edge of this new-fangled thing called “post-rock”.
There’s some nice stuff on the rest of the record with the occasional flashes of brilliance, especially the album closer ‘At Odds With Logic’, but most of it just floats by in a haze of rather samey lushness. On the other hand, a second foray into vocals, ‘Yonder Blue’ sung by Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley, is downright embarrassing. Hubley just doesn’t have an engaging voice and the whole thing quickly turns into a schmaltzy sub-par torch song. Just yuck.
So, with the exception of a few tracks, I guess my fears were justified. Not recommended.
