Cementing The Seams

So, I planned on starting a blog in a different capacity about 6 months ago. Wrote a couple of things down and evidently kept them. The next few posts are the aformentioned 'things'. Some recieved addendum, others didn't.

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Evidently in the mid 90s all of the Other Men were in a band called Heavy Vegetable. More notable however, is that front man Rob Crow was (is?) the driving force behind indie rock mainstays Pinback for roughly a decade between Heavy Vegetable and reforming the aforementioned group under their new moniker. Rather than a reflective throwback, Wake Up Swimming is a record that makes the band’s otherwise inexplicable name change seem completely logical. A departure from the decidedly weirder style of Heavy Vegetable and the straightforward pop sensibility of Pinback, Other Men seem to borrow more from composition-focused experimental (I use this term loosely) bands like Dianogah and Faraquet. Influences from Crow’s days in Pinback don’t go unnoticed though. His penchant for particular pop injections occasionally permeates each song at some point, however brief, which adds a catchy element most bands in the genre generally lack (or omit). Unlike Pinback however, most songs are in multiple movements and rely on creative combinations of constantly flowing guitar work (there may not be a power chord on the entire record) and unconventional rhythms more characteristic of math rock bands like those mentioned before. Of course, this doesn’t say much, in fact, the genre is pretty much built on that premise. Other Men don’t break any ground, but they build an edifice worthy of some serious reverence. Anyway, Wake Up Swimming is fucking good, it might be one of my favorite records ever. I said it.


For fans of: Dianogah, Faraquet, Pinback

Other Men on Myspace