I'm making a blog but I don't want to put a lot of effort into it. Lately I've found myself listening to some lo-fi bands like Times New Viking, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, high places, etc. I've slowly realized I don't understand lo-fi. I pretty much just don't get it. For people who are avid fans of lo-fi noise music, why so much noise? How do you listen to so much noise and not get annoyed by it? Using a slightly detached ear, I understand Times New Viking are really good. Their songs are literary. Their sound is unique. Their melodies are catchy. But a lot of times I have to force myself to listen to them because their songs are just too loud. From youtube videos, I notice they don't recreate too much of the static noise when playing live. So why did they have to make their album sound like that?
I'm going to see pains of being pure at heart in a month only to experience seeing a noise band live for the first time. A lot of their songs are honestly too tame for my liking. They have a much softer and even more poppy sound compared to Times New Viking. Nonetheless they are also very good. I have a soft spot for nicely structured pop songs with catchy melodies.
It seems that noise or noise pop or lo-fi pop, whatever you call it, has become a important trend in indie in the past couple of years. Personally I find it hard to listen to any Sonic Youth album from beginning to end. However there is a certain beauty to be discovered in these new groups. I just don't get most of it.
Some videos:
Times New Viking:
There are no good quality videos of them which makes lo-fi which already sounds shitty to begin with, even harder to listen to. The girl in the band is hot btw.
POBPAH
Music video
High places. They're a lo-fi electronics popish band if thats possible
zulu I've been trying to get my ears around this music for a while now too, and I have pretty much the same conclusion as you: it's not for me, or I just don't get it. The "noise" isn't attractive to me at all, and I'd even go so far as to say that people who are casually into these bands are only interested because they are considered "cool".
Yeah, I think I'm not ready for noisepop yet (and I may never be).
And I tried to make it through High Places's "best" album (according to indie blogs) and just couldn't hack it.
Edit: I should say though that I almost don't consider The Pains of Being Pure at Heart noisepop...it seems pretty poppy to me. I like some of their tracks.
Well despite what I've said I do sorta like TNV even though every time I play them I make sure to turn my volume all the way down then work it back up. I can certainly see why others would like them, they're actually pretty accessible once you get beneath the noise sound fuzz. POBPAH are already popular amongst hipster indie tools. ABC even interviewed them. They're my least favorite out of the all of the music I've been listening to lately. I can't really describe it but there's just a certain apathy in their songs which feels really anti-punk and something I find unattractive despite all the catchy hooks and basslines.
I think High Places should be approached as like a lo-fi Animal Collective. Their concept is interesting in that they use various live recorded field samples to handcraft loops and then add the singing and drums on top of them. Their songs don't have a lot of hooks or catchy melodies for supposedly pop songs. Despite that I actually liked 03/07 - 09/07 but not the LP "High Places" as much. I think they have potential to become better and more accessible, that is if they want to become accessible. But overall they're definitely not bad and do have a somewhat endearing, warm appeal to them.
lo-fi stuff in the background is really really really really nice when you're just mellowing out with some friends because it's got a naturally warm and comfortable sound. i find it difficult to listen to alone though - the style is definitely an interesting one but it gets old really fast when tracks start blending together into just endless uniform static. i've recently gotten a bunch of exposure to the local scene and it seems that a popular method of writing these songs is to take a pretty generic pop song (that they'd despise had it been written by another band), and simply add layers of fuzz to it. it's like the sound itself carries enormous meaning and is the most important, it's inviting and familiar sounding but still has that searching, escapist quality.
i don't know, it still gives me a headache. not my thing, good for once in a while
EPT
