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Excepter, "Sunbomber"
I listened to enough Frank Zappa and "experimental" music in the past to know that I typically hate bands that just talk or moan over their music. Even Captain Beefheart bugs me on that level, sometimes. Excepter, however, prove to be an exception to that rule. Paired down to a four piece, the group's sensitivity towards atmosphere and rhythmic dynamism prove to be more than winning qualities on Sunbomber and it was all recorded in just one hour.5RC
From that hour together, Excepter chose to include just 29 minutes of music on this EP. Over five tracks John Fell Ryan, Dan Hougland, Nathan Corbin, and Jon Nicholson simply play off one another, weaving together what might be tin whistles, synthesizers, tape machines, drums, and all manner of strange squeaks. The vocals, however, I could do without. Whenever someone is "singing" I get the feeling that there was less than sufficient thought put into how it would sound coupled with the music. Considering Excepter has a knack for improvisatory performance, it isn't surprising that they chose to keep the vocals the way they are. For the most part it's all droning, chanting moans, mostly unintelligible and inconsequential over the pulse of the music. What matters is how Excepter blend all of their sounds together on the spot, choosing to weave what instruments they have together instead of highlighting one performer's ability or one instrument's appeal.
The pulse that surges irregularly throughout the course of Sunbomber is what keeps it alive. Excepter masterfully merge their ideas together, creating a blend of ideas and sounds that magically coalesce into one gyrating chorus of noise and melody. It's no wonder that the band's music has been called mystical or ritualistic, they have a tendency to focus in on a theme or a mood and then circle around it, bring to life, as if by some alchemical formula too complex to be written down or understood by modernity. Every track starts in the womb of some strange mutant and ends up a galactic swarm of cosmic dust and alien paranoia. The band refuses to give into the computer temptation and keeps everything live, manipulating tapes and beats on the spot instead of orchestrating their work ahead of time. One result of this choice is the band's unpredictability, but the other, more interesting result is the band's utter strangeness. I'm equally tempted to dance and run naked beneath a full moon because of this disc. I imagine if someone made a film about Satanic ritual, the music would make the perfect soundtrack, but I also imagine that if someone made a film about alien abductions, this album would only heighten the sense of otherness already associated with that topic.
Excepter's music sounds miraculous in short format. The EP was practically made for a band like this. Its brevity showcases the band's talent well without allowing them to fly off into territory too abstract and gravity-less to be enjoyable. With the final song being the longest, at just under 10 minutes, there's more than enough room to get cozy with Excepter. Their long-form jams are fun, but sound best when coupled with shorter material like the stuff found on Sunbomber. This may be Excepter at their finest, the gateway drug into their rather labyrinthine sound.
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