Nervous Curtains

Fake Infinity

Written by: PP on 18/02/2012 16:59:04

Few rock bands are successful without the essential instrument of the genre: guitar. But Nervous Curtains from Dallas, Texas, showed on their debut album "Out Of Sync With Time" two years ago that through a clever usage of effect-laden bass and plenty of synthesizers, the instrument can be but an afterthought as its absence is effectively masked by other elements in their soundscape. "Fake Infinity", their sophomore album, continues in that vein, taking heavy advantage of the effects pedals for the bass guitar, while bringing in numerous electronic elements as well, to produce a weird, noisy, post-punk and garage-flavored indie rock record that flirts just enough with pop elements to lift it from outright obscurity into something fans of the genre should be taking a look at.

Though there are moments where Nervous Curtains sound nothing but a distorted mess of off-tune vocals, noisy bass and unusual percussion, it is during songs like "Wired To Make Waves", "Moody Photos" and "It's The End Of Eternity" where the inclusion of the pop element does the band favors. It creates an almost haunting mood, with semi-catchy vocal hooks pulling the song together from the noisy garage/indie territory into something entirely listenable. They never go overboard with it, though, always using the hooks sparingly to preserve their unique and quirky expression, that relies on part retro rock, part something that could've been written The Cure had they gone into a noisier direction than they did back in the day.

But while this approach guarantees an artistic and slightly avant-garde feeling to the album as a whole, it also ensures Nervous Curtains will have a difficult time in growing as a band outside of this particular niche. Their sound is provocatively quirky, but isn't the kind that's catchy enough to grab the attention of more mainstream music listeners, nor those outside of the garage/noise/indie genres. That said, within its own genre, "Fake Infinity" is yet another fine produce from a band that is constantly underrated by the press and the music fans alike.

7

Download: Moody Photos, Wired To Make Waves
For the fans of: The Birthday Party, The Cure, Magazine,
Listen: Bandcamp

Release date 21.02.2012
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