CONFLICTING REVIEWS OF GOES CUBE’S IN TIDES AND DRIFTS
As regular readers are already aware, we do not always agree with one another here at MetalSucks. To that end, we now present not one but two reviews of the new Goes Cube album, In Tides and Drifts, which is out now on The End Records — one from Ben Shanbrom, who loved the album, and another from Gary Suarez, who, uh, didn’t. We hope you find our staff arguing in public as entertaining as we do.
Like a hipster Today Is The Day, Goes Cube and their splendid post-grunge pop debut once represented that vibrant sort of Obama-esque hope that maybe, just maybe, certain parts of Brooklyn might not be completely worthless. Their undeniable former greatness makes this colossal stumble all the more agonizing, and the lows to which they’ve sunk redefine the oft-used term “sophomore slump.” I’m almost ashamed to say that, post-Easter 2011, Goes Cube are a mere candy-coated shell of the band they once were.
Feverishly fapped over by both mainstream and underground outlets — not to mention established celebri-fans Kanye West (with whom an infrequently rumored collaboration has yet to materialize), Eric Bana, and Eugene Mirman — the spunky power trio were transformed seemingly overnight from scruffy cupcake shop cashiers and Etsy elitists into the sort of barely polished, authentic rock-and-rollers that John Varvatos might court to play a Fashion Week party in the converted CBGB’s space. One would be hard-pressed to dispute why this meteoric rise occurred. In Another Day Has Passed, these scheming part-time artistes had almost unwittingly chiseled a shimmering power-pop album out of solid waste. One listen to frontman David Obuchowski’s emo-croon on peppy cuts like “Saab Sonnet” suggested a burgeoning talent the likes of which we haven’t seen since early Weezer or mid-period Replacements, and the fact that the group maintained what tastemakers like to call “edge” didn’t hurt a bit.
Had their follow-up, the recently-released In Tides And Drifts, continued along that glorious trajectory, we might be paying top dollar to watch these guys play amphitheaters this summer, opening for Daughtry or the Goo Goo Dolls. Yet, somewhere along the line, Goes Cube deviated from the divine path of Entertainment Weekly adoration and inevitable American Idol darlinghood and regrettably turned into an odious fucking metal band.
To be blunt, the band’s sound has become perversely deformed and startlingly depraved, devoid of accessible hooks or sing-able catchphrases. The savage chorus hook “Year Of The Human” bleeds into an inexplicably proggy overture while “Safety Coffin” grinds so hard that Rick Ross purportedly vomited at first listen. At no point during In Tides And Drifts is there even a place where Rihanna could throw in a few perfunctory Barbadian “Eh, Eh”s. The almost effortless consideration for three-minute radio singles and 30-second ringtones that defined 2009 Goes Cube escape this 2011 iteration. Don’t they care about tapping into the tween market?
What went wrong? Had all that stunning semi-fame gone to their unwashed head-banded heads? Sure, it’s easy to point the finger at shifty-eyed new bassist Matt Tyson, who muscled his way into the band after Another Day Has Passed, perhaps through blackmail or good old-fashioned Caribbean witchcraft. Personally, I think he’s been demonized enough. And drummer Kenny Appell — always affable, doe-eyed and innocent to a fault — cannot be blamed by any rational human being. So, I must then place this burden on the megalomaniac frontman. We’d all heard the leaked demo work Obuchowski had ghostwritten for the new Foo Fighters record, which filled this fan with confidence about In Tides And Drifts. Had he channeled too much of his talents into something a conniving huckster like Dave Grohl would claim as his own. Was Obuchowski seduced by Hollywood promises of movie roles and Two And A Half Men walk-ons? This sullen journalist says “Yes.”
(1/2 horn out of 5)
Ever notice how certain descriptions become unconsciously tied to specific topics? Speeches are moving, marketing pitches are impactful, and job candidates are results-oriented. Hell, jury duty is apparently a rewarding experience, too. We hear these irritating bits on TV, we read them online, we find ourselves writing this nonsense as if it’s being funnel-fed into our minds. There are really no prevailing reasons as to why such dynamic adjective-noun combinations should dominate our vocabulary, but, more often than not, we use em’ anyway; they’re easy.
One field that has recently been cluster fucked by this pursuit of profitable cliché is, oddly enough, that of engine oil marketing. Mention the word “sludge” to me, and I will automatically tell you it is unequivocally performance-robbing. Why is this phrase in every frickin’ oil change/gas commercial and why am I harping on this in a CD review? Because, come to think of it, sludge really can do that, especially to music.
Nearly in tandem with the rise of this clunky modifier, sludge/stoner/post metal has run rampant. It’s everywhere now. People who don’t even like heavy music are sipping PBR’s and smoking flat spliffs to this stuff. It isn’t exactly bad music either; there are plenty of bands doing very interesting work within the niche. But fuzz pedaling power chords and yelling monotone at 60 beats per minute is wearing awfully thin on these ears.
Relief is in sight.
Goes Cube may spew sludge by the bucket on their second full length, but their performance is Penzoil efficient. Across forty minutes, the New York trio hardly lets their love of overdrive and Southern rock murk slow them down. In Tides and Drifts is a sludge metal album for the attention-deficit and speed-frenzied.
Many bands that could be vaguely compared to this outlet begin songs with promising riff ideas that are slowly, but surely, beaten to bloody deaths over 5-to-7-minute durations. Goes Cube delivers a well-earned “bite me” to that approach, compounding all the massive chords, epic octave vamps, and swirling melodies into 2-3 minute firecrackers delivered at thrashing speeds. Think Neurosis conducted by Kurt Ballou and you’ve got an idea.
The consecutive “Safety Coffin,” “Thunderheads,” and “Property” speed by so briskly it’s almost easy to miss the meaty melodies and striking chords that fly by along with them. This pace, while refreshing within this style of music, makes repeat listens necessary to distinguish where that cool lead came from, or how they got from Point A to Point A and ½.
When the group does choose to slow things down, they still move purposefully. Slightly longer numbers like “The Homes of” and the title track (both of which feature the sultry voice of fellow New Yorker and folk singer Jaymay) have highly textured verses that bloom into huge, looming choruses. They are far more climactic and memorable than the snail’s pace build-ups of their peers. These tracks, in conjunction with their hastier neighboring cuts, flesh out the album’s surprising diversity that grows with each spin.
Goes Cube have put out one of the most immediately listenable, yet deep, albums to bear the burden of the “sludge” name. The tag doesn’t really describe whatever they’re doing in any detail, though, and I’m not sure that “sludgy grunge” does either. Call them crunchy, call them fuzzy, but they sure as hell ain’t performance-robbing.
(four out of five horns)
