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Album Details

• Artist: Quasi
• Album: American Gong
• Label: Kill Rock Stars
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: tosnob on 2010-03-17

Nothing's making Sleater-Kinney come back. No matter how many times I read the Monitor Mix or stalk Corin Tucker online. Thankfully Janet Weiss is still making great music as part of Quasi. Quasi's new album, American Gong, comes out this week.

The album is another excursion into the world of possibilities that is indie rock. Lo-fi once again meets fully fleshed out pop songs. Piano adds heft to tracks like "Everything and Nothing At All" as guitars emit just the right amount of distortion.

The indie version of prog rock creeps into things from time to time too. "Bye Bye Blackbird" features a lengthy guitar exposition backed by a beefy rumbling drum. The album hits a high water mark with "Rockabilly Party", a country rock duet with a toe-tapping heavy riff.

Disappointingly not a cover of the Dylan song (it's okay Nick Cave's version will more than do), "Death Is Not the End" is a ramshackle track on which the vocals and arrangements just don't feel in time, making for an extremely awkward listen. The Francophone take on "Let the Good Times Roll" ("Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouller") also seems out of place.

In the end though, the album may be a little bit too eclectic. Without a unifying theme or sound it feels like a loose collection of tracks rather than a cohesive album.

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