Akron/Family return to us for what could one of the highlight shows of the summer at Festsaal.
Shrouded in mystery, the recording of S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shunju TNT has all sorts of rumours flying around. Of how the band disappeared for months to Detroit or a volcano in Japan, of how they sent their record label, Dead Oceans nothing despite pleading emails and calls until one day a large brown cardboard box showed up on their doorstep. The full details of what this box contained can be read here and I strongly advise you to do so. You’ll either laugh or continue smoking your latest while listening to the album.
The record is that good some reviewers didn’t even try to talk about it and instead simply advised you to just listen to it, the sensible thing to do. Here’s what Dusted had to say:
There are two emotions (or feelings, or ideas) the album is particularly good at inspiring: joyousness and beauty. The joyousness comes in large part from the way the songs are constructed, with rich, layered singing and background harmonies, uplifting choruses and striking sharp guitar melodies, and in general just the way these songs are attacked; it is from a happy place, and that feeling comes through strongly.
Cutting the crap is something that goes down well with me, Akron/Family get straight to the point…always…even if you’re not sure what the point is, they get straight there…
On their myspace it states:
Influences:
Everything until now.
Sounds Like:
1. Very mysterious. 2. We possess abundant noodling capacity 3. but we’d like to be able to rehearse more. 4. We play music for people who like boats 5. for those, Ak Ak 6. is not very mysterious….
I like boats. See you there.
Here’s a recent live clip of Kurt Vile & The Violators’ Jesus Fever. Imagine it in the Festsaal, big and crystal clear…yum.
Kurt Vile‘s gotten a raw deal out of this preview but you know that he’s also awesome and great and that his latest effort Smoke Ring For My Halo is also already making it’s way onto people’s Top 20 albums of 2011.
And here’s a live one from Akron/Family, River from 2009′s Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free.
