Heroic Doses
Heroic Doses
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Heroic Doses
Heroic Doses
Sub Pop, 1998
RiYL: Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy, Trans Am's Surrender To The Night, 5ive Style |
But on its self-titled debut for Sub Pop, Heroic Doses transcends the typical trappings of instrumental rock by building from the ground up with octopus-armed drumming, hyperactive basslines and guitar licks that touch on everything from post-rock to delta blues to the throttle of classic bands such as Led Zeppelin.
Guitarist Bill Dolan will be familiar to some listeners via his work in the similarly-inspired 5ive Style, but this album is a much more eclectic and worthwhile listen than 5ive Style's catalogue. Dolan consistently impresses here, blowing the roof off the room on opener "On The Corner" and crispy cruncher "Crystals" but laying low to soundtrack an imaginary Blaxploitation flick during "Gimme Less Friction." The talented guitarist references his 5ive Style work on "Pushy Girl," whose bluesy foundation briefly gives way to a bad-guy-in-a-dark-alley riff, and the Zeppelin-tinged "Heroic Theme Song."
A classic-rock influence is prominent on "The Mad Spackler," as drummer Ryan Rapsys pounds his skins, Nick Macri tours the neck of his bass while Dolan riffs like Jimmy Page on a sleep deprivation binge. But the band switches gears for tracks such as "Reggie Is It?," a gently zooming number with lush harmonics and a great rhythm, and "Married To The Scene," in which Dolan's treated, detuned guitar hovers over reverb-soaked electronic percussion.
The bottom-heavy "Ollie Oxen Free" recalls Chicago homies Tortoise (Tortoise drummer Johnny Herndon played with Dolan in 5ive Style), and the breezy "Blank Ship" could serve as a Sea and Cake outtake with its extra bright guitar tone and jazzy fretwork.
Comic relief can be found on the goofy "Is She Queer," the only song on the album with vocals. In front of Casio drums and a funked-up bassline, Dolan addresses a sexually confused friend: "why don't you come out with us/maybe it's the temperature/maybe it's the trumpeter." Maybe!
Elsewhere, the appropriately titled "Manic Kraut Rock" beats Trans Am at its own locomotion, leading into the oft-repeated foundational riff of closer "Euphonix," a nod to Rapsys' solo project Euphone.
Heroic Doses have made an imminently listenable debut here, one that references a handful of post-rock heavy hitters but still manages to craft a unique sound along the way.
JONATHAN COHEN | Jonathan Cohen co-created Nude As The News with his Indiana University mates Troy Carpenter and Ben French. When not traversing the globe for business and pleasure, he holds down the fort as a senior editor for Billboard in New York. Stop him and he just may ask, "what for lunch?"