Does anybody remember art rock? Or rock as art? For those of you who dig Tortoise, The Bad Plus/Happy Apple, Soft Machine, Hot Rats / Grand Wazoo era Frank Zappa & The Mothers, and Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica, you are hereby urged to delve head first into Assemble, the HRC’s ambitious sophomore effort. Messrs. Russell Greenberg, Lawrence Mesich, Mike McCurdy, and Thomas Yee have concocted a mind-blowing collection of angular sound collages employing odd time signatures, clashing motifs, off-the-wall vocal passages, and cinematic interludes which will certainly challenge the most daring of indie-pop listeners. However don’t fear the avant-garde, because plenty of catchy melodies abound on this record, especially in tracks such as “Lullaby” and “Trees in a Row” which may have hinted what the Beach Boys would have sounded like if Mike Love was the one to drop all that acid. The dominance of vibes is absolutely brilliant, as is the riff from Cheech & Chong’s “Earache My Eye” which is quoted (in part) on “Chicken Gourlet.” A more pleasant alternative to alternative rock you will not find.
--Tom Semioli [February 9, 2009]
