Fungi Girls are a band from Cleburne, Texas--or is it Denton?--and they make highly fuzzy and distorted pop-punk tunes that'll make you tear holes in your jeans and sneak out of the house to go partying at a friend's house. Their music was once lo-fi, but they made the best decision ever and went to a studio. Thank god the recording process took some effort. But it seems as though the band has lost some recognition after using a microphone that cost more than $2 for once. At least it's a good thing that the lo-fi craze is dying slowly, and Fungi Girls are contributing to it.
Onto the album. Seafaring Pyramids is a surprising sound if you've only heard the Psilo Demo. The songs are more technical, the vocals are more prominent, and the band has a sound to call their own. It's not worthy of calling it a new genre (because "beach punk" is just too original considering its only contenders are Wavves and 311) but it is a sound that when heard, it's recognizable. It has a slight old-school punk tinge to it but it also incorporates the Skeleton-era sound of Abe Vigoda. This sound isn't repetitious, in fact I can call out a track off the album already and that's the last track "Kowloon Walled City". The no wavey bass-line, the drums at ease, and the guitar isn't even being played: it's just held up really close to the amp.
My only gripe is the way the songs were mixed. It does sound a lot cleaner from what they've done in the past but there are just some things about the way this was done that I have to pick on. The bass is a little too upfront and makes it hard to hear everything else. And if you're used to the vocals on the Psilo Demo, then you know that the vocals are often washed out by the guitar and drums. In the case of Seafaring Pyramids, they're decipherable and clean. For some reason it doesn't entirely fit in with the sound of feedbacky guitars and pounding drums.
I'll ignore my pickiness though and say just go out and buy it. It's very much worth a listen and it pays off the "long wait" for early Fungi Girls fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment