April 10, 2008
..
a: Man/Machine
b1: ??? (short instrumental)
b2: (the) Faces
Label: Florida's Dying
Buy: from the label
Listen: Myspace
I've been spending a bit of time with The Daily Void lately, with the full length (so good), and these singles. Forget about the music for a second, because the one thing that these guys will be known for is the art that they use for their records. It is great when bands put as much time into their mystique as they do their songs, and the art on The Daily Void's releases is a perfect match for the music that you will hear when you put the record on. This goes a lot deeper than those who want to hold this music back to another time - "It's just punk man" - but I can't think any punk band who were ever as artistically sophisticated as The Daily Void.
The musics contained are the quality you would expect from The Daily Void, who seem to be thriving on this act of creation, because this music sounds innovative and alive; and while they certainly are rooted in tradition (playing with a traditional bass/drums/guitars setup) bands and scenes that have come before (for example, "Man/Machine" might sound like a Stooges 45 played at the wrong speed), there is a new element that lays within this combination of sounds that have come before. Take a little from this genre, borrow a little from that and voila, you have a record that gets me excited.
Which is nice for a change, because so much of what was once the independent underground has become so stale and safe and boring. You really have to dig through the Indie Rock scene to find anything singular these days (everyone got caught up in trying to recreate that fucking Shins record).With this gradual sea change in music taste, with people having access to everything all at once (and with others seeing this sea change as an encroachment on the territory that they have been living happily in for the last five years without anyone paying any attention, and with them being there first, goddammit), and with the drive to get bands like The Daily Void genrefied (I think the push is on in some circles for "weird punk" - though that kind of label is, and should be, contested). Mainly because of the fact that a band like The Daily Void are resistant to a singular genre, which is exactly what makes them interesting.