It's been a while since the Jar single on Leaf Leaf records, and I had to go rifling through the shelves finding that one to get some perspective on this latest from Daniel Dimaggio and Daniel Sutton. I don't think I had any idea about Home Blitz at the time I bought it, so this single has a totally different place on the shelf now. That's the good thing about singles, making those connections later...buying a single like Jar just because of the xerox cover that looked like it was made in 5 minutes and of course the name. I held onto it because I always appreciated how all over the place it was, you were going to get something different out of it every time.
Listening to it now all I can hear is the Cave Bears, a stream of consciousness rehearsal space jam session that's constantly changing...going as home recorded as possible, sounding tortured, or happy... cut together so you never know the difference. I like the ambiguity, there's a lot you can personally take away from this. It's accessible, it has that I could do that feel, while having enough melodic moments to draw you in for another spin.
This 'Prisoner of Type' single from Soft Abuse finds the two of them, years later, very serious crouched in the woods...still delivering on that homemade psyche promise. It doesn't get bogged down with a lot of rules or particular sounds, and that can sound like a cop out, not nailing down what you're trying to get across, but that's the point and it works.
It's weird to just hear Home Blitz peek out here and there in phrases, the vocals get loud and that half english accent from Perpetual Night comes out for a second. Sort of like Car Commercials is the Ducktails to Daniel's Home Blitz, it's the unhinged, free form side of the home recordings. Daniel's vocals are really deconstructed, with no obvious melody, each syllable is an unrelated note at times with lots of space.
On the flip side the both of them are on guitar blurting out vocals on S's Pawn but The Bag Saga two part track is the most successful combination of their experimentation and melody. Accordion and acoustic sparse layers capturing a real loneliness and alienation. It's another document of why Daniel is going to continue to be interesting, you just can't pin him down.
I don't know if these guys will ever tour, or exist outside these two singles and the Judy's Dust full length or Eric's Diary, it would be impossible to recreate any of this successfully, unless they just took a improv route for every performance, and that can be genius or a nightmare for an audience. I could see them taking that chance.
From Soft Abuse, black vinyl long playing 33 with a punch out adapter thingy in the center and download card.
Car Commercials explore the personal / loner side of DIY with their singular take on no-chord strum & mumble rock n’ roll alienation. Dave Sutton and Daniel DiMaggio have created another soundtrack of suburban boredom & terminal paranoia; the stifling, mundane source of this music (geographically and psychologically speaking) is mirrored and regurgitated in these five tunes. Where once they tread a formless, lurching path, Car Commercials now tromp along with more-cohesive abandon. Moments of spontaneity & pure attitude are delivered in restrained spurts and jabs, and their chops seem better, too. All in all, Prisoner of Type extends the duo’s unsettling missives into (slightly) less-rudimentary corners. Each side offers a different, uh, side of the band. Its a savory listen. 300 pressed, includes a free download.
Side A
01. Supper's on the Table
02. Prisoner of Type
Side B
01. S's Pawn
02. The Bag Saga, pt. 1 [mp3]
03. The Bag Saga, pt. 2
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