When I look back at the early days of CoolDad Music, I see a lot more album reviews, a lot more time spent listening to recorded music. Some of that had to do with the fact that I was out running with my iPhone more (I'm trying to get back into it. I swear.). And some of that had to do with my not going to as many shows or taking as many pictures back then. The thing that's gotten lost in that evolution, though, is that feeling of just becoming totally obsessed with a particular album. I still listen to stuff often and really enjoy it, but sometimes it feels like it's become less personal or something. I listen less as a pure music fan and more as a guy with a website.
That's why On Ludlow by New York's High Waisted has been so refreshing for me. I play it in my car. I play it sitting at my desk. I've been obsessively searching the web for a physical copy so that I can play it on my turntable. I love it.
OK. Review over.
Not really.
Everything great about On Ludlow appears on opener "Trust." The band's sound is somewhere in the intersection of surf, garage rock, and spaghetti western. I keep visualizing faded Instamatic photographs when listening, and I'm not lying when I say that this song / record inspired me to look for film cameras on eBay. Jessica Louise Dye's voice is kind of, well, a revelation; and the guitar tones that Stephan Nielsen puts out are thick and juicy, especially during the bridge which sounds almost like an allusion to Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game."
"Party in the Back" is, in fact, a party. It's fun and upbeat; and, since it's a simple-sounding retro-pop song, you may not notice the fact that Dye's vocals are so amazing. I keep thinking of that Lou Reed lyric from New York's "Romeo Had Juliet:" "Her voice was like a bell." Nielsen and the rest of the band -- Jono Bernstein (drums) and Jeremy Hansen (bass) -- provide a scuzzy, garage-y counterpoint.
And it doesn't stop. The reverb and arpeggiated chords on "Shithead." The Tarantino movie vibe of "Door." The high-flying lushness of "Gold Tooth." The understated beauty of "Hey Hey." High Waisted explore every corner of sun-bleached, 60s-inspired surf pop.
Things get a little darker and more aggressive on surf instrumental "Shanghai Safari" and "Wail." Dye takes a little vocal inspiration from Patti Smith on the latter. "Detonate" is a snotty, rough-around-the-edges shot of garage rock.
On Ludlow mellows again in its final quarter with "Nuclear Lover," the swaying "Maybe Baby" with its cinematic drum crashes, and the more low-key instrumental "Kitchen Safari." Connecting everything -- and I keep coming back to this -- are Dye's amazing voice and some guitar tones that many players would kill to achieve.
We were still in the throes of winter when On Ludlow came out at the beginning of March. It took me a little while to start digging into it, but it's almost as if the weather started to get warmer as I went deeper with the record. Now, I'm excited to spend the summer with High Waisted. And to start learning to take photos with film.
On Ludlow is out now and available from wherever you like to buy your digital music. I haven't located a physical copy, but I'm going to try and make one of their upcoming NYC shows (5/12 at Market Hotel or 5/18 at Shea Stadium) and see if I can't grab one.
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