Josh Zero
Untitled (CD-R Demo)
Get out your asphault trucks, gravel spreading gear, and plastic orange cones. We're about to make some ... pavement. Well, not to jump to any conclusions but this three song demo from New York's Josh Zero seemed a textbook case of Malkmus-itis circa Slanted and Enchanted in full bloom. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this was the initial impression I got and I had difficulty adjusting my ears afterwards which were set to slacker lo-fi auto-tune for the rest of the songs.
The opening track, "Elevator To The Top" actually reminds me of something out of Sebadoh's catalog. Not the Lou songs, though. Think more along the lines of Jason Lowenstien on Harmacy's "I Smell A Rat". Maybe Guided by Voices without the fake Pollard Brit accent as well? The vocals on "Queens", while they reminded me pleasantly of Matt Suggs of the late Butterglory, came across a little too Miller Hi-life classic rock-ish for my tastes, especially in the choruses. The closing track, "Techno Fair", continues the pavement love-in, this time referencing newer albums like Wowee Zowee. I sort of enjoyed the guitar weirdness and talking at the end of that song though.
So what else to say. I guess a lack of a pithy description is more than often the fault of the reviewer. Perhaps if I had a broader lo-fi musical vocabulary, this review might be more positive. At its best moments Josh Zero comes across as a less experimental Pavement, and at its worst moments... Josh Zero comes across as a less experimental Pavement.
- review by BY (3.31.03)
Josh Zero
joshzero@yahoo.com
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