Q & Not U

Power
Dischord / Popfrenzy, 2005

If this band can create an entire album’s worth of semi-coherent, occasionally rhyming, free association lyrics, then surely I can knock up a single review. Here we go:

“Boring lyrics and predictable indie-rock.” Love, it doesn’t need to be that way. Airplay. Triple J. DC hardcore. Left that last one behind! Whimsical lyrics and synth-pop bass lines. This could be serious. Duelling vocals. Falsetto voices. Playful guitar, but we don’t need feedback. There’s synthesizer, off-kilter, synthesizer horns! An impressive array of references, but it didn’t have to do with the subject. Is it sex? I’m dancing, then I’m thinking, and then I’m just confused.

Which urban district did you write a prayer for? These lyrics remind me of The Dismemberment Plan, but these sounds don’t ring a bell. Third album. Three members. Left the fourth behind! Who needs a bassist anyway? (Post) punk’s not dead – I read that on a T-shirt, so I’m pretty sure it is! A cappella. She said whatever, and left my heart behind. I’m looking for something beautiful. You know what it is, but you just wont say! 'Collecting The Diamonds' is a thankless task, but you make it so fun in the end! You do it all over with 'Beautiful Beats', and leave 'X-Polynation' for the end!

I’m an angry kid in a surrealist garden; these flowers just melt in my gaze. “Do we the pro-cess in our process?” Does anyone understand what you say? Letting me down easy. Coming down slow. 'Passwords' push-push-pushes me into introspection, but then I’m just confused. I put it on repeat anyway, no need to be confused! 'Wonderful People' opened the record, but I’m sure they stuck around! It’s interesting. I’m interested! Entertained and perplexed. Resonating but chasing resolve. Long-term playability? I’ll tell you in a month. On second thought, that T-shirt rocked. I’m leaving credibility behind.

Andrew Ramadge is away. This review first published in Beat in 2005.