I am perhaps a bit late to the party – given that Portland Oregon quartet Iretsu launched their album, Fang, late last year. However, with their second single, ‘Sexy, No?’ a recent release, I think it best to look at the track in the context of the album that it was recorded as part of.
Provocative, in both title and bassline, Sexy, No? slouches and swaggers in a fashion that – despite the group’s avant-pop reputation is a little reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand’s Ulysses. That’s not to call it derivative, there’s too much nuance here for it to ever be a balls-to-the-wall pop song. However, the insistent bass riff and accompanying electric guitar hooks certainly leave this tune standing as one of the punchiest and most accessible of the 14 on the album.
It’s an interesting contrast to the album’s first single, Humbuzzer, which barrels along borderline-post-punk with clattering drums, jangly guitars and rapid bursts of vocals. While Sexy, No? is the catchier of the two, Humbuzzer is certainly more representative of the album as a whole.
The remainder sees a wide variation of sound and texture – as you would expect from a group that touts itself as “avant-everything”. That particular label is probably a little far-fetched, but the quartet are deft at building intricate instrumental passages and launching them into a whirl of manifold textures and harmonised vocals – the opening title track being a prime example.
My biggest disappointment with the album wasn’t the music itself but the self-labelling that came with it. Framing something as ‘avant-everything’ conjures expectations of wild, cutting-edge sound and, while the varied indie pop that’s delivered is pleasant, it falls a little short of being truly revolutionary.
Even so, Iretsu acquit themselves across a range of styles; the dreamy waltz of Sleep, sparsely arranged with whistles, tambourine and deep semi-spoken vocals is a gentle folk lullaby. Meanwhile, Ha Ra is reminiscent of a slightly-reserved Of Montreal; confident vocals, simple rhythm section and a smirking air that feels like it conceals an inside joke.
Then you have Nuclear Whistles – high-pitched synthesiser wheedling, overlaid with a simple guitar and drumline. It’s instrumental, and while it’s not wildly exciting in comparison to much of the rest of the record, it certainly adds another dimension, and cleanses the aural palate between Ha Ra, the languid Waves and the upbeat Neubleud.
If you want Iretsu the indie pop band, the singles are the best place to start; however, if you’re after a more varied tapestry, Fang covers quite a lot of ground. The avant-everything label should probably be taken with a grain of salt, but even so, there is an abundance of genre-bending talent within the group and lovers of the eclectic will probably find plenty here to sink their teeth into.
Tags: 2010, album, fang, hidden shoal, iretsu, music, oregon, portland, record, review
