When, oh when, will the US media and its music-buying public ever learn? 65daysofstatic’s One Time for All Time was released over a year ago in the UK and earned the band a spot in front of 10,000 Tokyoites, but its just now making its way stateside. As it creeps into the American consciousness, with its dark-featured futuristic robo-body made of heavy electronic backbone and lean but powerful guitar muscle, 65days proves that, while the UK may be ahead of the game in musical taste, it is light years ahead of most of the world.
The full-length opens on a morphine drip of piano notes, a grunting female, something ticks, and it all sounds like it is being played in tin-walled room; 65daysofstatic are trying to ease you into their world - but once you’ve entered, there’s no turning back. The piano becomes feverish on “Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here” as the one-note keys bubble in the background, metallic guitars and drums take their rightful place in the ‘static scheme of things. The instruments layer like so many winter outfits -all their songs are instrumental - building in intensity with the listener trapped in the whirlpool until the whole thing crashes. But this is no accident, 65daysofstatic’s stop-start structures are about the only thing this band has in common with the countless post-punk Xerox copies who dare themselves a band.
The very nature of 65daysofstatic’s music makes an impossible fit for any trend du jour; not that they are an acquired taste exactly, but do require a seasoned palette. Those on “Cute Indie Band” alert will be thrown (if not tossed to the side) by the drum n’ bass lead-in of “Await Rescue,” then struck (if not pinned to the wall) by the song’s segue into thrashing skins and swirling axes worthy of speed metal.
Each song demands intent, astute listening. While there are plenty of sampled beats, this review will not include the words and you can dance to it and though reflective pools of piano are bountiful, you’d never be caught gazing at your Chucks. It’s mostly cerebral and sometimes corporeal, but mostly in the extremities: tapping fingers, bobbing head, shaking legs. In the end, there’s no great way to summarize this album because, like most valuable experiences, it’s less about the destination and more about the journey. Just remember, when you board this time machine of an album, you are in for one skull- and genre-splitting ride.
~Melody Caraballo
Release date: October 17, 2006
Buy Album from CD Universe
