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Boo And Boo Too

No Tempo

Written by: PP on 12/11/2008 14:47:54

Okay, Boo and Boo Too have changed a lot in the space of just one year. Their self titled debut EP depicted them as a decent band following the footsteps of early The Strokes with only a pinch of Sonic Youth influence thrown in for good measure, but "No Tempo", their debut full length, is easily one of the most exciting indie rock releases I've heard this year, and it sounds nothing like The Strokes, but a hell of a lot like a Sonic Youth with huge restrictions on the size of their sound universe, and simultaneously hell of a little like any other band than Boo And Boo Too. That is a remarkable achievement on your debut album, and a feat that's promising some really, really big things for this band in the future if they continue in this manner.

If you've ever lived in a heavily built, metropolitan (but not cosmopolitan) city, you know the claustrophobic feeling one can inherit from being surrounded by so many people, buildings, and a contrast of extreme richness and extreme poverty. Here I'm thinking New York, Tokio, London or Mexico City and the likes. Now imagine that claustrophobia manifesting itself on a record, that loud, dirty, sleazy, garagish sound that makes you feel really small in the world. Add indescribable despair and psychedelia and you've got "No Tempo" summed up. It's as beautiful as it's ugly, and as poppy as it's dark, this is exactly the way sludgy indie rock, post-rock, post-punk, or call it whatever you will, but this is the way it's meant to be played.

Starting from the discouraging hopelessness on "I Know Nothing's All Right" through the distant optimism in "I'll Be Your Whore" to the melancholic anguish in the painstakingly slow "Obviously", the Boo And Boo Too vocalist masterfully takes you through intensely emotional journeys where you can go from sympathizing with a homeless person on the street who's feeling cold on a chilly autumn night to the chaotic claustrophobia of a middle-class 9-17 office worker often in the same song. The ability of "No Tempo" to relay different states of mind to its listener is its absolute strength, leaving a hell of a full listening experience from start to finish.

The interesting thing is that their tools are disguisedly simple; Sonic Youth-style noise-obsessed psychedelia is combined with ambiance of indie rock and the slurryness of garage rock in a way that each element becomes unrecognizable, but yet the sound is still beautifully all-encompassing and rich in layer and structure. So if you want to hear something that's truly experimental but still darkly poppy and, dare I say it, catchy, look no further than Boo And Boo Too's "No Tempo", one of the finest indie rock recordings this year.

Download: No Tempo, Obviously, I Know Nothing's All Right
For the fans of: Sonic Youth, Liars, My Bloody Valentine
Listen: Myspace

Release date 14.10.2008
Ironpaw/Chomp Womp Records