Sound Off!: Baby Venom

Check out Baby Venom along with the Vivian Girls (already shouted-out) October 1 @ the Ottobar.

We here at Aural States receive a surprising amount of music to review, or at least I find it surprising given that our blog hasn’t existed for more than a year, and our original goal was to possibly get into some shows for free. And, as has been stated before, a surprising amount of that music is decent, but most of that music comes through online promotions companies. Sometimes we are given music directly from an acquaintance, or someone that somehow knows about our involvement with Aural States.

These encounters make me cringe, because I usually have a pre-existing relationship with the person, and I don’t have the nerve to honestly tell them what I think if the material is poor. I generally try to avoid these situations. So when my friend Dave (Coldspring Lane food service unite!) gave me a CD-R of his band’s EP, I was bracing for the worst. But I should have known better. Baby Venom has a solid pedigree. Needless to say, I was surprised (there is that word again) by the inventiveness of the group.

Sarah, Dave, and Nathan form a lo-fi sythn group that evokes all the best elements of the Casio modification movement: endearing lyrics and vocals, bittersweet shimmering timbers, nostalgic melodies, with just the right amount of zaniness.

The EP I was given was rough around the edges, it was recorded on a 4-track. Some of the songs weren’t quit there yet–it was more of a demo than a proper release. But two tracks really stood around: “Take Out Breakfast,” and “Frank.”

“Take Out Breakfast” has Sarah singing in a style similar to Mary Pearson of High Places–innocently and with a certain measured exuberance. The sythn intro gives way to triumphant chords, than an explosion as Sarah bust into the vocals. But that explosion is restraint. Baby Venom never gets too carried away with emotion, and this works effectively.

For some strange reason “Frank” calls to mind Aphex Twin’s “4,” for me, despite the fact that Baby Venom never gets carried away in abstract snare rushes like the IDM master, they hint at that direction. I think I make the mental leap between the two songs because they both express beauty at it’s most fragile; ephemeral beauty. The lyrics are stream-of-conscience, and are bound by desert imagery, though the vocals are buried deep in the mix and the listener can only pick up bits and pieces. As I have said before, not hearing every single word is OK–it adds mystery. Beauty is not readily understood, not apparent, so no need for vocals to be easily decipherable.

But why indulge aural ekphrasis, when you can listen to the tracks for yourself.

MP3: Baby Venom - Take Out Breakfast

MP3: Baby Venom - Frank