Skip to main contentAnd And And We’ll Be Better Off With The Plants
[WILD BASEMENT POP] It's hard to follow up a song like "The Great Tide," the opening track from And And And's debut record, We'll Be Better Off With the Plants. That track melds a handful of winning pop strategies—the Strokes' lo-fi energy, the Kinks' naively sweet hooks and the Beach Boys' ear for vocal harmony—compounded by a spirit both playful and joyful.
So the disc's second track, the flute-driven "Nightmare"—which finds co-vocalist Nathan Baumgartner taking on a theatric, shaky vocal approach (think Arcade Fire; Handsome Furs) that comes and goes throughout the disc—is a bit of a left turn. It swaps the opener's understated charm for a barrage of acoustic and electric instruments that drive to a punchy pop crescendo.
One gets used to these left turns after a few listens of We'll Be Better Off. There are hit-and-miss ballads ("I Will Still Break Your Heart" being the big, acoustic hit), atmospheric instrumental pieces and a handful of melodic punk cuts in the style of "The Great Tide" that prove the band's surest winning formula. The infectious, potty-mouthed revenge ballad "An American in Rome" (favorite lyrical turn: "You went to Rome, told me you were coming back/ But now you're the best thing that I never had—and that's some bullllllshit!") is one of the finer examples.
If pared from 14 tracks down to 10, We'll Be Better Off's shifting sound might be easier to wrangle. But even as it is—a touch too long, occasionally misdirected—the album's high points are incredibly high. If the worst thing you can accuse a band of is stretching too far and trying too hard, said band is in pretty good shape. That's true of And And And. The group is smart, bold and earnest; I wouldn't be surprised—in fact, I'd be stoked—to see it at the forefront of Portland's indie rock scene in short order.
Cabinessence Naked Friends
[WALL OF ECLECTIC SOUNDS] In a town where every band is trying to stumble on some elusive new sound through wild experimentation or ill-advised genre fusion, Cabinessence's unhindered retro revivalism is refreshing. Within 10 minutes of pressing play on the quintet's sophomore effort, Naked Friends, one hears traces of Electric Light Orchestra, T-Rex and the Beach Boys—with a little disco, honky-tonk and jazz sprinkled around for good measure. Cabinessence refuses to attend just one house of pop worship, preferring instead to start its own, all-inclusive church.
The band must have camped out in the studio for Naked Friends; it's a beautifully produced record. Tracks like "Thumbs" and "Should've Known" are untangleable knots of soulful instrumentation and warm songwriting with polish that few bands attempt and fewer (My Morning Jacket, Spiritualized) ever pull off. Brian Wilson and Gram Parsons would both approve of the gorgeous melodies and vocal harmonies on "Grace." They'd probably dig the spaced-out country orchestration, as well.
Occasionally the old-school worship feels like a gimmick. "How I Learned," a clap-along faux spiritual that's part "Maggie's Farm" and part "Subterranean Homesick Blues," features a couple of psychedelic bridges that sound a bit inauthentic and kitschy; "Pray" gets so groovy it starts to sound like blaxploitation parody.
Still, it's hard to think of another Portland band with both the will and expertise to make music this all-encompassing. By the time Cabinessence plays us out with the gorgeous, South-of-the-border-meets-sci-fi instrumental "Ruby's Moon Elevator"—a number with such balls that it would seem obscene if it weren't so perfectly executed—the listener feels as though they've just taken a college course on world pop music from the '60s and '70s. But like the best professors, Cabinessence inspires us to continue our studies long after class is out.
SEE IT: And And And plays the Ella Street Lounge on Thursday, March 11, with Rainbow Bridge and Pill Wonder. 9 pm. $5. 21+. Cabinessence plays Doug Fir Lounge on Friday, March 12, with Grand Hallway and Mighty Tiger. 9 pm. $7 advance, $8 day of show. 21+.
WWeek 2015
