Time And Energy: Indie Music Preview
If I need to relax, I have a whole playlist filled with relaxing music; Frank Sinatra, Tom Waits, Joni Mitchell, for the classics, and Lana Del Rey, The XX, and Washed Out for the new stuff. There is so much music available to relax you further. It is called my chill playlist (or chill PL for short) and without it, I would be a crumbling ball of nervousness.
Now, there are also plenty of bands that are almost solely built to ignite adrenaline, testosterone, intensity, all that fun stuff that goes along with the metal/hardcore scene. And then some music is intentionally abrasive but not necessarily metal. It is interesting, to say the least.
‘Time and Energy’ are at once all of these things, without ever committing to any. They are like that fun girlfriend; scared of emotional commitment, who wanders around teasing and playing and maybe attacking at any moment.
It is all so confusing and weirdly addicting, and this is my overall impression of Time and Energy’s new album ‘Strange Kind of Focus.’ It’s all so appropriate. You need to put in time and energy to get everything out of the duo, and you need a strange kind of focus to figure out what the hell is going on.
The album isn’t senseless acid rock nor is it garage rock. It’s neither soothing and melodic or aggressive and heavy. It is really hard to pinpoint much of anything. ‘DaDaDa’ hopes around with a weird momentum. ‘Thought Forms’ seems to be a test of rambling, but is followed by a steady beat and some fascinating production overlays. ‘O’Molly’ is straight Modest Mouse- silly and fast, dynamic and drum-heavy.
‘Time and Energy’ is Jorge Rios and Brennan Roach- two guys who find more comfort in experimental odysseys than anything even remotely resembling pop construct.
Yet, the album remains somewhat accessible. To create truly original art, an artist has to do something wholly new. An author writing a book using only vowels- an artist making an album consisting solely of sex sounds (darn, it’s been done. Scratch that). Anyway, originality is a myth.
But, I believe ‘Time and Energy’ have formed something about as original as can be expected. Some songs rely solely on a single guitar, while others are layered in ‘Animal Collective’ level bizarreness. With some jazz melodies and hip-hop rhythms thrown in for good measure. The duo manages something primordial underneath all the gloss of being too weird for their own good.
Do not be caught off guard. The group’s website opens up with some soft tones. With beige and trees, and a nice simple layout, one may expect to find the new Maroon 5; bland and uninteresting. However here, there’s something for literally everyone to enjoy.
‘Time and Energy’ are messy and frenetic, but never out-of-control. Beneath all the oddities, weird sound choices, and thickened production, comes a sound that is intriguing because it truly is different. That is where its accessibility comes to true light. For every band fitting a formula, ‘Time and Energy’ invented their own chemistry class.
‘Strange Kind of Focus’ releases November 16th.
To check out Time and Energy, visit them by clicking HERE.
