Silver Daggers - New High & Ord
Los Angeles hipsters Silver Daggers are one of those "so weird its cool" underground acts that will probably have that constant if surprising amount of hype behind them. As I listen to this, their LOAD Records debut, it becomes apparent to me that there is something very "cult fave" about a record like New High & Ord. All the makings are there for hipster success---the cheeky, iconoclast song titles, purposely awkward instrumental pairings, pretentious disregard for trends/scenes/subcultures, and colorful, obnoxious artwork. Once having established these interesting little basics, LOAD's press release proceeds to uncharacteristically heap praise on the disc, offer interviews (!) and mention their "thunderous reception" on the LOAD SXSW Festival showcase earlier this year. As a frequent critic of LOAD's output, all of the above seems unusual for such a devil-may-care label. In fact, the last time they did something like this....
The last time LOAD did something like this we got Lightning Bolt. Yep folks, Lightning Bolt---that eclectic and hyperactive two-piece whom many have hailed as the underground insulin shot to the diabetic corpse of rock 'n roll's manic fury. As I digest New High & Ord multiple times, I cannot help but notice the similarities the two acts share; a dangerous, confrontational record production, the gripping and manic cover-art, the "redefined rock" shtick. As if the hipster tie-ins weren't already enough, Mika Miko larynx lacerator Jenna Thornhill shows up on a couple tracks, her banshee wail making things even more counter-culture.
And therein lays the problem with New High & Ord. As much as it struggles for a unique identity with all its rambling saxophones and slithering, angular guitars, at the end of the day this band sounds like a thousand others. Try as they might, all the ass-wiggling energy and flute vocals in the world can't make a band unique. Armed with naught but a formula of energetic chaos trapped in a web of (usually) conventional song-structures, New High & Ord falls into a lovely trap where heaps of crazed energy are meant to equate legitimate passion. As nice as this approach sounds on paper, it largely fails here as it has on various other records before. The issue lies in a lack of variety; Silver Daggers goes full-throttle through this surreal carnival maze of messy groove rock, and the end result blurs like a puddle of neon-colored vomit. Said vomit is always bright and flashy, but for the most part the majority is muddled, with few pieces of clarity or coherence clumping together in the regurgitated stew.
Said moments are few and far between, yet still worth mentioning. "New High & Ord" is not only the title track, but a coke-binge garage rocker with smooth guitar layering and buzzing saxophone menace in the background. A descent into realms of goofy guitar scrapes and ambling rhythm chaos works wonders too, and this is a good piece near the album's start. After wading through some bland and unremarkable filler with all the weight of a sugar binge, one gets the subtle "Faithful Unlawful." Kicking in off a smoke-tailed saxophone, the soon-to-be-sultry "Faithful" eventually explodes into an abnormal swing dance of sonic rumbles. The drum wizardry on follow-up "Governkkk" makes it worth mentioning, but the schizoid arrangements kind of hold it back ever so slightly as all the instruments don't sound very coherent or sensible all the time. "Burn the World" is just that, a pyrotechnic sparkler that fizzles into oblivion patiently, shooting up burst of flame after burst of flame. The rhythmic intensity of "Joy" sounds vaguely like a lost Mars Volta mix, or it does until the distinctive vocals kick in. "Run to Fear" is notable only for being the disc's end; as far as songs go, it is a short and vibrant burst of color without serious shape or form. Being pretty light on the senses and generally lacking weight, the song is mildly anticlimactic to end a CD on, and just kind of happens. Besides the songs mentioned above, nothing really stood out to me, all the songs sending like the sort of sugary, garbled rock that is becoming increasingly popular amongst the new-rock youth of America.
As a result, I anticipate mixed reactions to a CD like New High & Ord. Musically, there is little wrong with it besides the overdoing of certain traits. Yes, some of the songs border on being too manic, crazed, or hyperactive, but that is less a fault of the traits and more a fault of the band neglecting to make certain passages stick out a bit more in the overall scheme of the CD. Personally speaking, I find the high-pitched sing-song vocals used in bands like this to be both insipid and obnoxious, but that is just me---in some perverse way its childish ADD works with the music itself, so to each his own I guess. The production is clear, the good songs are really good, and as for the filler, well it least it has some energy to it. That has to count for something right? New High & Ord is a mixed bag, but for those seeking a fun pixie stick rock album this might be your sugar buzz.
Tracks
1. Enter the King
2. New High & Ord
3. Untame
4. We Didn't Pay
5. The Five Food Groups
6. Displacement
7. Faithful Unlawful
8. Governkkk
9. Ghosted
10. Burn the World
11. Movement
12. Joy
13. Real Neat Flag
14. Run to Fear
Rating: 
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