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Shinju TNT

The sum of “Shinju TNT’s” often brilliant parts add up to a whole which falls, and burns, and crashes under its own attempts at creative immensity says our music reviewer, Theo Sangster…

Akron/Family – S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

Shinju is defined in Japanese theatre as the double suicide as a result of a socially undesirable (and therefore impossible) love relationship. Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a compound used to blow shit up. Couple together these ideas of a Nippo-Shakespearean tragedy and a limb-ripping chemical and you have to expect an explosion of some sort. Unfortunately, Akron/Family’s “S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT” is just like the photo of the volcanic eruption on its record cover – a complete disaster.

Leader track, “Silly Bears”, goes immediately down the Pet Sounds experimentation route (ala Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion”), the sound which seems to be a defining curve in the sample-set dominating New York’s musical skyline at the moment. The song veers toward a more live instrumental sound through its dual hair-guitar cuts and massive harmonies. It’s a good (if not that original) sound. So far; so happy.

From here on in, the album starts to crumble. Genre-mashing is a risky business. It either goes really right – for instance, Janelle Monae’s exquisite 2010 release, “The Archandroid”, or just plain wrong (this album here). It’s a balance, and Akron/Family have tipped over way too far. The key is to pick your influences well and be subtle about the whole thing. Akron/Family seem to have gone through Pitchfork.com’s recent Top New Music lists and appropriated sounds where they see fit with no thought of the consequences.

The musical framework is all over the show, from the Black Keys-ian blue tones of “So It Goes”, to the interspersed Dirty Projectors-influenced frenetic guitar work and Dodos-inspired indie gang vocals, (deep breath), heavy grunge-drops reminiscent of Sleigh Bells, and the Radiohead-ripped milky melodies and six-string posturing in “Fuji II”. The record seems to change its mind like a girl changes clothes (I’m surprised they didn’t end up writing a Kate Perry cover – they might as well have).

None of what I have mentioned above is actually bad; in fact all of these influences are current shapers in the music world. The ideas just don’t work well together. In fact, standing alone, a lot of the songs are genuinely really good. The standout track by far is the aforementioned opener, “Silly Bears”, striking up idyllic childhood memories of Pooh Bear and Asterix-Goes-to-Switzerland-type adventures. The similar sounding, “Another Sky”, is also another example of where Akron/Family get it right, with an awesome central hook, and stellar lyric: “enter in/making ghosts of the familiar/mapping the wilds of our heart”. However, the sum of “Shinju TNT’s” often brilliant parts add up to a whole which falls, and burns, and crashes under its own attempts at creative immensity.

“Shinju TNT’s problem comes in trying to do too much, too soon, and ultimately not doing much by the end of it all. It’s just overwhelming. I’ve never name dropped so many bands in a review before. This is not a good thing. Akron/Family need to start sounding more like themselves.

Written by Theo Sangster 8 March 2011


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