HT003 – High Two

Review – A Cricket in Times Square

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Source: Splendid Magazine

It’s not unusual for a band to be indebted to groundbreaking acts like Galaxie 500, Sonic Youth, and Slowdive — but the band that escapes the shadow of such towering influences is a rare treat indeed. A Cricket in Times Square accomplish that feat admirably. Washing the cavernous spaces that permeate their self-titled debut with sublime guitar textures, and focusing their arrangements around sterling melodies, they attempt — and often successfully create — songs of engulfing beauty.Those melodies aren’t necessarily easy to locate amid the band’s whirlpool guitar-work and percussive thunder. Opener “Careless” barely hints at its ascendant melody in its early verses, guitars chugging, wraith-like hooks drifting in and out of the dense, brooding brew. Instead, it gains strength over the course of the song’s ensuing repetitions and steadily building intensity until a righteous thunderbolt of a guitar riff sends the storm out to sea. “5 1/2 Minute Hallway” follows up by assigning melodic duties to the bass while layered guitars seethe and howl. It sets some impressively high expectations for the rest of the disc, and the tracks that follow never fail to meet them.

That strong songwriting foundation leaves the group free to build up their hooks and overall melodic complexity, and they take advantage of that freedom in fine style. “Hallway” stacks obliterating waves of effects-laden riffs in its final minutes, creating a guitar battle of epic proportions. “Mourning Son”‘s melodic barbs may not get under your skin, but it doesn’t really need to; its vintage Galaxie 500 explosion will blow you through the wall instead. Closer “Outliving Your Shadow” displays the band’s versatility by letting its interstitial spaces yawn a bit between the intricate guitar interactions.

The group also takes care to differentiate the dynamics of their songs — an essential move for an album this dense. The soupy extended jams that routinely take center stage would be unbearable if they weren’t so deftly distinguished by their impressive guitar figures and instrumental organization. Despite a bit of overextension during some of their rockouts — the one at the end of “Outliving Your Shadow” exceeds six minutes — the band never seems lazy or gratuitous. For the better part of the album’s 37 minutes, this debut is a coherent and often magnificent display of craftsmanship and virtuosic skill. The band’s name may suggest an easily drowned-out, innocuous chirp, but this Cricket makes beautiful noise that could swallow up Times Square’s din any day of the week.

— Amir Karim Nezar

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Review – A Cricket in Times Square

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Author: Cam Lindsay
Source: Exclaim.ca
link to this article

A Cricket In Times Square obviously aren’t worried about wearing their influences on their sleeves and nicking ideas from trendy genres. Their amalgamation of fuzzbox garage rock, muddled shoegazing and drugged-out hypnotic psych is as blatant as my description, but they certainly know what they’re doing because they’ve made it work splendidly. This self-titled six-song mini album is drenched in so much reverb and feedback it’s like reliving the Creation years all over again. A lot of contemporary bands have tackled a similar sound and failed, but ACITS aren’t just about hiding behind their effects pedal boards. Singer Michael Tyler knows the right notes to hit and levels to use when balancing his voice out with the overpowering guitar noise. Even though the vocals are faint, they serve their purpose; the voice is just another instrument to help drown everything out. When the epic “Outliving Your Shadow” hits, at the album’s closing stages, it drags by slowly until it ends after the 12-minute mark. Such wanking is often a sure-fire ticket to hitting the stop button, but ACITS have managed to compose a slow-burner that is so lazy and beautiful in its ascension. When the end finally arrives, you’ll wonder where the time went. (High Two)

Review – A Cricket in Times Square

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Author: Kyle McConaghy

Source: Stylus
link to this article

Toying with post-rock formats, buckets of reverb, multiple guitar influences, 80s British vocals, and primitive production trickery, A Cricket In Times Square has harnessed a slick, yet roughhewn sound that will appeal to fans of The Smiths, Slint, Galaxie 500, and The Stone Roses, alike. Each song sounds as if it were recorded by that kid in your neighborhood who was a wizard with his Tascam 4-track. But the raw, rounded production bodes well with the subdued primal nature of the instruments.

Taking a name derived from one of those sophisticated children’s books filed between a Roald Dahl novel and a collection of Shel Silverstein poetry, AciTS curiously sidesteps the connotations of their name by combining raucous guitar scrapes and screams that saturate a warm, surrounding atmosphere. The group sounds as if they were being played from one side of a gymnasium, with the condenser mic on the other, allowing the instruments to soak in the sound of the spaciousness. Violent, fuzzed-out guitar vibrato battles an airy Joey Santiago one-string rift in the dizzying, “5 1/2-minute Hallway”, while squealing guitar licks and gritty rhythm guitar create the musical backdrop for “Everything But Medicines”. These types of impressive, hyperactive guitar licks cover much of the album.

But because of that cement wall reverb, the guitar work—though just as distorted and crazy-played as the following—never nears the dominant, guitar ferocity of a Ronson or Branca. The D.C. natives instead aspire and attain a sexy sound by suppressing the presence of the guitar in the final mix. The crisp drumming on a hollow-sounding kit—which recalls the tremendous Walkmen percussionist, Matt Barrick—along with Michael Tyler’s suave vocals, add a tamed, delicate side to the band’s overall sound.

With a singing voice somewhere along the lines of Robert Smith, Ian McColloch and Mest’s Tony Lavado, Tyler delivers smooth, closet Brit-intonated melodies. His presence comes in varying degrees, sometimes lying low in the mix, melting nicely into the backing ensembles, while in other songs, his melodies are mixed loud enough to be a worthy focal point. Amidst the chugging, lo-fi rhythm guitar of “Careless”, Tyler’s buttery vocals are underlined by an increasing anxiousness as the backing track recycles a single chord progression throughout its five minute running time. He closes the album, sweetly and somberly in “Outliving Your Shadow”. Like Morrissey on downers, singing from the bottom of a well, Tyler nicely complements the track’s timbre of the watery, guitar arpeggios.

Perhaps just as vital as Tyler’s melodies and the unique guitar production, ACiTS reminds us of the value of warm, analog recordings and reaffirm what commonly held true in the seventies—you can create a great album with less than 8 songs and 45 minutes of play time. The album’s directness and the dazzling musical content combine for an impressive debut release.

Review – A Cricket In Times Square

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Author: Chris Dahlen
Source: Pitchfork Media
link to this article Rating: 7.6

The best way to act like a caveman is to live deep inside a cave, which is where A Cricket in Times Square have landed: their garage-rock guitars are run through shoegazer pedals and effects and magnified until they sound not like a noise, but a space– a shadowy, cavernous rock chamber that threatens to drain all color from the music until they’re left with nothing but echoes.Volume alone doesn’t make for great rock music, and A Cricket in Times Square take a risk on their debut album by ditching precision and almost rendering themselves faceless. They hit the usual reference points– from the guitar jams of a “Sister Ray” to the massive shoegaze of Bailter Space– so the trick is to set themselves apart from their forebearers. Frontman Michael Tyler often drowns his vocals by shouting into the winds, rendering himself almost anonymous. You can hear his space-weary voice more clearly on the slow numbers. He gets an extended showcase on “Outliving Your Shadow”, a drowsy slow dance on which he sounds like he’s drooling on his pillow; the last half of the song jerks awake with an extended guitar solo that wails and doubles up on itself.

But even as the guitars try to crush the album, the band’s songwriting triumphs. Each track is a distinct composition, from the climbing riffs of “Careless” or the ominous two-note figure that repeats through “5 1/2-Minute Hallway”, chased by eerie leather-winged-bird noises that recall early Pink Floyd. In the quiet-to-loud Galaxie 500 dreaminess of “Mourning Son”, the chorus hangs on like a battleship in high seas while the band struggles to bash it off course, and the frenetic melody of “Everything Known About Medicines” hits the highest energy mark, setting off eruptions at every chorus.

Other effects-heavy guitar bands may be more psychedelic, outro or spastic, but by taking a straighter approach to their wall of sound they play to their strength: the gigantic melodies. The band’s pedal fetish doesn’t get in the way of songwriting, and each wash of noise yields a memorable tune. It’s not clear why they named themselves after a children’s book, except that the image of a cricket chirping in the middle of skyscrapers matches the way they sound like they’re shouting into a vast expanse. In spite of the static, their message hits the mark.

Review – A Cricket in Times Squate

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Author: Matthew Fritch
Source: MAGNET Jan/Feb 2005
This Seattle band—named after a children’s book (if you can get over Death Cab for Cutie, you can surely give Cricket a break)—leaves no guitar-effects pedal untouched on its debut. Coupled with smothered-in-the-fog vocals, Cricket could easily fall in with the shoegaze ranks; the dizzy-with-distortion quartet is substantially weirder, however, recalling a more pastoral Spacemen 3 or an even sloppier Galaxie 500.

Review – A Cricket in Times Square

March 6, 2009

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases, Reviews

Author: David Fricke
Source: Rolling Stone Jan 2005
“This twin-guitars band takes its inspiration from the echo-impressionism of Ride, the Church, and Sonic Youth. The blurred grandeur of this debut is particularly impressive…”

A Cricket in Times Square: A Cricket in Times Square

November 14, 2004

A Cricket in Times Square, Artists, HT003, Releases

A Cricket in Times Square - s/t

[download#8#nohits] [download#8#image]
5½-minute hallway(6:11)
mourning son (5:00)
everything known about medicines (3:42)
blood from heaven (4:34)
outliving your shadow (12:37)

Release Date: November 2, 2004

Recorded February—July 2003 at WMUC Studios.

Recorded and mixed by Sam Chintha, Matt Welch, and ACITS.

Mastered by Mark Guenther at Seattle Disc Mastering.

Artwork by John Wood.
Photography by Michael Tyler.

Despite deriving its name from a classic children’s book, a quick listen should convince you that A Cricket In Times Square is in no way another twee band (and, you’ll note, the acronym ACITS is much tougher sounding). Like the best groups of the shoegaze era, ACITS swathes its pop songs in a substantial, but not obliterating, layer of distortion. With ethereal vocals encircled by caustic, competing guitars, the Seattle quartet’s songs guardedly confront post-adolescent ennui and frustration thru both sullen lyrics and the episodic tension present in the music.

Although the intricately layered sound is thanks to the band’s lengthy recording and post-production efforts, and founders Michael Tyler and John Wood are more than just studio obsessives. Their unique sound is a rather specialized accomplishment (one Kevin Shields fans would surely appreciate), but they may have crafted the best album for attempting to puzzle out lyrics since Murmur.The best example may be the first song, “Careless,” although you may well find yourself hitting repeat even if you don’t feel the need to decipher every word. If you’re looking for “the single,” look no further—this is the most driving, passionate song about apathy you’ll ever hear. Track 2, “5½-Minute Hallway,” and track 5, “Blood From Heaven,” capture everything that made those early Ride releases so excellent- a combination of atmospherics, dynamism and solid songwriting that is increasingly hard to come by. Fans of stateside distortion enthusiasts should find a lot to like as well, as the Galaxie 500 dreaminess of track 6, “Outliving Your Shadow,” builds into Sonic Youth-style guitar heroics, leaving no doubt that ACITS is not just a couple of hacks with a lot of pedals—although they do have a lot of pedals.

As Interpol, British Sea Power, BRMC and Saddam Hussein have shown us, the first Bush administration is culturally relevant again. ACITS, mercifully, manages to evoke the best bands of that era without resorting to slavish copycatting.

Reviews

Rolling
Stone {David Fricke, Jan 2005}

“This twin-guitars band takes its inspiration from the echo-impressionism
of Ride, the Church, and Sonic Youth. The blurred grandeur of this debut
is particularly impressive…”

PennyBlackMusic {Jonjo McNeill, Dec 2004}

“It sounds absolutely
incredible in a way nothing else has ever sounded absolutely incredible.”

MAGNET
{Matthew Fritch, Jan/Feb 2005}

This Seattle band—named after a children’s book(if you can get over
Death Cab for Cutie, you can surely give Cricket a break)—leaves
no guitar-effects pedal untouched on its debut. Coupled with smothered-in-the-fog
vocals, Cricket could easily fall in with the shoegaze ranks; the dizzy-with-distortion
quartet is substantially weirder, however, recalling a more pastoral Spacemen
3 or an even sloppier Galaxie 500.

PitchforkMedia
{Chris Dahlen, Dec 12, 2004}

“Other effects-heavy guitar bands may be more psychedelic, outro or spastic, but by taking a straighter approach to their wall of sound they play to their strength: the gigantic melodies. The band’s pedal fetish doesn’t get in the way of songwriting, and each wash of noise yields a
memorable tune.”

StylusMagazine
{Kyle McConaghy, Dec. 2004}

“Perhaps just as vital as Tyler’s melodies and the unique guitar production, ACiTS reminds us of the value of warm, analog recordings and reaffirm what commonly held true in the seventies—you can create a great album with less than 8 songs and 45 minutes of play time. The
album’s directness and the dazzling musical content combine for an impressive debut release.”

Splendid
{Amir Karim Nezar, Feb. 8, 2005}

“…this debut is a coherent and often magnificent display of craftsmanship
and virtuosic skill.”

Exclaim
{Cam Lindsay, Feb. 4, 2005}

“Their amalgamation
of fuzzbox garage rock, muddled shoegazing and drugged-out hypnotic psych
is as blatant as my description, but they certainly know what they’re
doing because they’ve made it work splendidly.”