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Anyone who has been involved in a focus group knows the look in the eye of the moderator – trying desperately to weave together useful information spit forth by rednecks, faux-intellectuals, and single mothers, he sweats and stirs. If he is good, he succeeds, boiling a pile of opinion into a useful whole. Austin’s Focus Group are good moderators. Knowing that it is the process and not the individual pieces of content, Focus Group reaches across genres and wrenches out of it compelling, unique tracks. If nothing else, their latest release, Unicornography, will make the listener reconsider whether Jazz piano really can go with industrial synth drums.
Starting it out in style with “Main Theme’”, Focus Group wastes no time, and quickly sets out their plan for the album. A clip at the end explains, “we test out the music, and this is really what people want to hear”. Both presumptuous and tongue-in-cheek, the statement constrains the group’s sound to the realm of both the experimental and the readily listenable. Horn sections flowing over synth drums and what sounds like an old dot-matrix printer head may sound odd on paper, but don’t expect Sonic Youth-like noises or tracts of empty space. Focus group, keeping with their namesake, maintains clarity.
Nowhere is this more clear than in their second track, “Albequerque Freak Out.” Starting with a minor-keyed classical piano buildup that is slowly accompanied, then overtaken by, fuzzed out guitar and bass, the song lurches to a fast pace and doesn’t relent. A trebly guitar riff squeals over a fast drum breakbeat as dark piano sounds loom in the background, making this the most traditionally rock-and-roll song on the Unicornography.
“The Proper Way to Fold A Map” starts with an awkward amalgam of piano, hand drum, and other acoustic instruments. The sampled vinyl static starts and stops somewhat irritatingly as the sample loops, but is only really evident at the start, before the track swings into gear. Seeing the quality in the rest of the work, it is safe to assume this was an artistic choice and not an oversight, but it detracts from the smoothness of the rest of the song. A somewhat Rattatat-esque guitar line plays over climbing piano, emulating the soundtrack to a tense spy-movie scene.
Similar guitarwork abounds in “On Purpose for Money”, but instead of staying melodic, a discordant bridge bounces back and forth haphazardly before fizzling out. Tracks 3 and 4 represent a somewhat safer route than the latter half of the album, and tend to suffer from sounding a bit similar.
The title track, “Unicornography,” signals the beginning of the true experimentation – of the medical sort, in this case. A heart rate monitor beeps along at a steady rate to set the pace of the track while piano, reminiscent of “Phantom of the Opera”, plays along. Uptempo synth drum and nonsensical (and eerily sensual) vocal sounds join in, summoning up visions of a swank but futuristic lounge, complete with low lighting and one too many sophisticated and pretentious drinks. “Great songs…for a price” the signs on the wall would read. And they are, to be sure. If the album started in rollicking late-evening, the listener definitely crosses over into the late night here, and the crazies are coming out.
“Beef Crepe,” despite sounding lighthearted, is surprisingly dark and tragic sounding. High, almost childlike piano lines ring out hollowly over humming bass. Reverbing metallic sounds clang around in the background, and fade to echoes before the song quickly picks up. A ragtime bridge takes over, then plunges into a fuzzed out bass beat that seems both warm and cooly dystopic at the same time.
The four remixes, which pull the trail end of the album, draw more in mood from the latter original tracks. Spacy and steampunky, they continue a theme, but fail to offer much original insight or surprise. They would place well on a LateNightTales compilation, but since Focus Group is all about originality, the tracks, “Midifister”, “Vladimir Computin”, and “Bender”, seem to be simply smooth. And simple is not the target.
While at times faltering beneath the weight of their compositions, Focus Group assembles a solid set of instrumental tracks that do well at keeping the listener up and moving. While neither as mystical nor profane as the album name professes, the interesting juxtaposition of sounds and rhythms on Unicornography makes this an album worth investigating.
Websites:
www.focusgroupisaband.com
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