In this episode of Tales of Unexpected, we ask just why Tapes ‘n Tapes are hailed as 'the next Big Thing'. The Minneapolis quartets’ brand of home made, low fi experimental indie has been showered by praise from both the UK and US press, with a supposed major label scrum for their signature at this years SXSW festival in Texas. The New York Times have even gone so far as to suggest that their music is ‘rhapsodic’. 

Now, even if ‘rhapsodic’ is a word (and my dictionary says it is, although I have my doubts) it would take a very clever person indeed to tell me just how T&T’s music fits this bill. This is because any sane person listening to The Loon would file this under ‘difficult and deliberately obtuse’. The 11 tracks here are an exercise in bloody minded one dimensional song writing, showcasing a band making music for themselves. While this is fair enough, T&T seem to have forgotten that generally, music should be enjoyable. The Loon is just an exercise in endurance. 

The opener ‘Just Drums’ is indicative of their exceptionally lo-fi sound. Skiffle-esque guitars chug along in a riff which is near to being catchy for the first 30 seconds, before the listener realises that it’s not going to go anywhere. Worse, lead singer Josh Grier sounds as if he’s singing through a wind tunnel while stoned. Very quickly, the whole thing becomes forgettable. Which is the same for the rest of the record. The majority of it consists of instantly sleep inducing riffs (either fast or slow, sometimes acoustic, sometimes not) framed by a tune that goes nowhere near the door marked ‘enjoyable hooks and/or actual tune’ and Grier sounding as if he’s a prime candidate for Narcotics Anonymus.

The one tiny light at the end of the tunnel is first single ‘Insistor’ – despite the mumbling lyrics it has (if you listen very closely) the slightest of hooks and could, if you were pressed, actually be okay. Anything resembling a tune during the record is however drowned out by the songs like ‘Crazy Eights’, an instrumental masquerading as a pointless cacophony of noise. 

So there we have it. Tales of the Unexpected indeed, although it wouldn’t be the first time the next Best Thing turned out to be a damp squib. Note to scrum of A&R persons scouting for new talent – stop drinking in between bands. Seriously, they’ll sound better. 
(1/5)

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