|
It’s difficult to decipher exactly what Agent Ribbons wants to be. Recently transplanted to Austin via Sacramento, the trio’s sophomore album ranges broadly in sound and ambition, and while individually the tunes are deployed with both an enchanting and edgy aplomb, as a whole the LP feels somewhat at odds with itself. There’s gritty garage riffs, swooning ballads, and an array of musical stylings that the female troupe manages to brush through in under 40 minutes, all wrapped in a kind of gypsy atmosphere that bobs and weaves to various degrees throughout. But that conflicting sound may also be taken as appropriate and intentional, as Chateau Crone could be understood as an exposition on an increasingly developing madness, a kind of musical take on “The Yellow Wallpaper” or the more directly cited “Grey Gardens.” From the emphatic opening of “I’m Alright” through to the closing carnivalesque yelp and swirl of “Wood, Lead, Rubber,” there is an overall progression into a hideous ecstasy of abandon.
The rugged garage jolt of “I’m Alright” that begins the album sounds not that far removed from Yellow Fever, especially in the harmonies waving over a minimalist riff. Agent Ribbons does a bit more with the song than their fellow Austin trio would, and it’s a shame they don’t follow that line out a bit more on the rest of the album. Perhaps that’s what makes the album most noteworthy, however, as there seem to be plenty of bands these days mining retro riffs and girl group harmonies. The following “Grey Gardens” takes a turn with an ethereal, atmospheric eeriness that hearkens its dreary inspiration. The song is both beautifully shimmering and direly depressing, a swivel between light and dark.
Likewise, “Dada Girlfriend” drifts dreamily behind Natalie Ribbons’ vocals and Naomi Ribbons’ strings, a delicate Fifties-styled sway of pop with Neko Case-ish intonations, but then gives way to the Balkan accordion and violin rhythm of “I’ll Let You Be My Baby,” which carries a heavy Amanda Palmer cabaret bite. The easy restraint of “I Was Born to Sing Sad Songs” works equally well, feeling on edge and frayed in the vocals while understatedly refusing to break, even as Natalie reluctantly cedes to the realization that “I was born to sing sad songs that go on for more than three minutes long.”
The desperate “Wallpaper of Skin” finally reveals some of the cracks at the psychotic seams, with the chiming grandfather clock seguing into heavy strings. The opening lines immediately disorient with “She’s crying in the wallpaper made of skin. All the pictures look afflicted by the horror of the room they’re in” as the song builds into an almost “White Rabbit” kind of intensity. By “Your Hands, My Hands”, the shouting chorus of “I miss your kiss, but I’m happy like this” strikes as appropriately self-imploding, while the moments of call and response and echo feel like the fightings of internal dialogue trying to keep it all together.
The closing trio of “Oh, La La!”, “Rubik’s Cube”, and “Wood, Lead, Rubber” settles into a sweet resignation and then explodes in fury. “Oh, La La!” and “Rubik’s Cube” are two of the most charming songs on the album, even if somewhat defeated in outlook. The phrasing and word play of the latter tune is some of the best of the album, surprising yet subtle set against an almost music-box waltz. All of this leads however into the rolling gypsy fervor of the final track that is cathartic and threatening in execution.
While Chateau Crone doesn’t really manage to balance all these competing impulses very well across the album, Agent Ribbons pulls each tune off quite magnificently. The trio could musically go in any direction that they choose to pursue and inhabit that sound with success, but then that may be precisely what they’re trying to avoid by refusing to box themselves in. After all, fighting against being cornered seems to be a theme strewn throughout the tunes, alternately resulting in both freedom and self-destruction. But discerning which result ultimately emerges is a bit more ambiguous.
Mp3 from Chateau Crone:
I’m Alright
Website:
Myspace
