■ Sufis se vrátili v roce 2020 s „Double Exposure“. V průběhu svých 10~ti skladeb najdeme Sufis zkoumající nové dimenze svých outsiderských stylů, kombinujících introspektivní mutantní popové zvuky společně s paranoidními psychedelickými exkurzemi. Předešlé album The Sufis bylo jmenováno jako „Album of the Month“ díky Rough Trade. Také byl oceněni v The Times, Shindig! (https://www.shindig-magazine.com/ ), což je publikace s opravdovým porozuměním, upřímností a naprostou vírou. Přináší rozsah a poznatky starých fanzinů a specializovaných titulů do širšího čtenářského povědomí. Dále, v Collector Records a u Davida Frickeho (Rolling Stone), který to nazval „rozšířeným dosahem do dronujícího minimalismu Velvet Underground“ a „manipulaci s páskou, jak je známé u Faust. “
■ Nashville duo dedicated to reviving mid~‘60s garage rock and psychedelic pop.
Editorial Reviews:
■ The Sufis are an Anglo~Indian/American band based on the writing partnership of Calvin Laporte and Evan Smith. During a chance meeting at Belmont University in Nashville, TN they bonded over a shared love of the Elephant 6 Collective and 20th~century classical music. AKer spending their formative years obsessively consuming and studying many different kinds of music, they set out to create their own musical universe. Under the guidance of Nashville tape wizard Randy Blevins, they built their dream recording studio in 2011. Not wasting any time, they set out recording their debut album enlisting the help of their friends, including local wunderkinds the Paperhead. These recordings quickly caught the attention of Ben and Tjinder of Cornershop who released the album on their label, Ample Play, in the summer of 2012. Upon release The Sufis was named Rough Trade Album of the Month and also received high praise from the likes of The Times, Shindig!, Record Collector, and Rolling Stone’s David Fricke who called it ‘an extended reach into the droning minimalism of the Velvet Underground and Faust’s tape manipulation.’ They quickly followed up with Inventions in 2013, an ambitious attempt to consolidate their love of The Shaggs, Wesley Willis and Bach. The next few years found The Sufis focusing more on production and engineering dues for Paperhead, Peter Stringer~Hye, Universal Friend, Paul Messis/The Market Squares and many others. Frustrated with the small town aesthetic of Nashville, they spent time traveling around, eventually settling on Brooklyn, NY as their new home base.
Location: Nashville, Tennessee ~ New York, NY
Styles: Alternative/Indie Rock, Neo~Psychedelia, Indie Pop
Album release: January 24, 2020
Record Label: Burger Records
Duration: 34:42
Tracks:
01 Find Your Friends 3:40
02 IGT 4:16
03 Can’t Go There 3:12
04 David 3:56
05 Cleveland 3:14
06 Outta My Mind 2:34
07 No One Ever Noticed 2:40
08 Too Far 3:21
09 5 AM 3:43
10 Yr OK 4:06
Group members:
■ Calvin Laporte
■ Evan Smith
RIYL: Stereolab, Ariel Pink, Tame Impala, Todd Rundgren, Deerhunter, White Fence.
AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra | Score: ★★★★
° The Sufis’ fourth album Double Exposure follows in the same lo~fi, weird and woolly bedroom pysch footsteps as their previous album did. Only this time the duo have a much more focused and animated approach to the writing and recording process and punch their perfomace sup just a touch. The sound might be oddly smooth and bathed in cheapo synths, warbly vocals and drums that sound like they have an inch of water sloshing around inside them, but the songs are shiny and sharp as diamonds.
° Each track connects like a sucker punch whether it’s the bubbling post Ariel Pink pop of “Find Your Friends,” the compressed jangle pop of “Cleveland,” the moody new wave of “Too Far,” or the misty~lens soft rock of “5 AM.” The duo show mastery of vocal harmonies throughout, each instrument sounds perfectly cheesy, the sound is murky while still managing to strut and swoon as needed and perhaps best of all, there are no dub reggae diversions this time around, though the echo and space of dub is baked into the arrangements.
° Double Exposure is the kind of album that encourages the listener to drop out and let the music flow over them like a gentle brook, caressing their ears with warm and relaxing music if they choose. Each track also works as a single does of excellent modern weirdness, coated in memorable memories and delivered with just the right mixture of tender emotion and blase weirdness. It seemed like maybe the band were headed down the wrong road, one that would lead to them being just another band making this kind of oddly popular music. Instead, they vault to the forefront of the style with an album that shows off their skills as writers, performers, producers and arrangers like none of their other records has, and few other bands of their ilk have either.
° https://www.allmusic.com/
Bandcamp: https://thesufis.bandcamp.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesufisband
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPggiUtXDGc |
Label: https://burgerrecords.com/