Right. Here's a recipe for Adult Rodeo: two parts They Might Be Giants, two parts Devo, one part B-52's, one part Mekons, the ground-up bones of Emmet Otter's Jug Band, a short stack of flapjacks, and a bottle of Tomolives. Whip until peaks are stiff, rub all over your naked body, and have Kramer roll you in rainbow sprinkles.
The Kissyface itself is tough to take at times. Most of it's a Powerbook-driven hoe-down (in this case, though, that's a good thing). Weird bleeps have never been coupled so successfully with fake drawls, and most of these songs are mighty well-developed. Some even bust out into some pretty killer campfire choruses. It's got a bunch of filler, though, like those Sno-Balls farmers feed to their hogs to pump them up before market; the album could be twice as good if it were half as long.
On the whole though, The Kissyface succeeds where it should fall on its face, mostly by virtue of the fact that it's so much goldurned fun. Yes, Adult Rodeo is smarter than you, but they're not flaunting it. They're just playing their lo-fi indie electro-country-core. And you can stomp your feet right along with it. If you want.
![]()
O L I V I A T R E M O R C O N T R O L
With their diverse and original sound OTC combines bands like GbV and Beach Boys, resulting in music that is best described as sixties pop infatuated with many keyboard sounds and crazy samples. And don't forget some psychedelic influences of course...
by norbert pek
Who? The Athens, Georgia based Olivia Tremor Control consists of Will Cullen Hart, Bill Doss, John Fernandes, Eric Harris and Peter Erchick. This experimental band tries to combine the music of bands like The Beatles, Beach Boys, Guided By Voices, High Llamas.
The story so far: Their first release was a split 7" with the Apples in Stereo called 'Small Fi'. The band itself speaks about a special Olivia Tremor Control Method: "First there are the songs in the sense of a classic short-attention span pop song with lyrics and so-on, but then there's the Olivia Mind Control Method which is basically instrumental material that we're going to refer to as experimental". After the first release many others followed, distributed by labels like Blue Rose, Flydaddy (http://www.flydaddy.com) and the famous Elephant 6 (http://www.droom.nildram.co.uk/marchant/) label (with Neutral Milk Hotel, Apples In Stereo, The Minders and more).
Why are they great? OTC are diverse and original. They have the ability to surprise you every time. Their sound varies from the strangest computer sounds to the most beautiful orchestrated compositions. And still it sounds natural. Maybe it's best to describe the music as sixties pop infatuated with many keyboard sounds and crazy samples. And don't forget some psychedelic influences. The last album Black Foliage contains twenty-seven(!) songs from which the length varies from 3 seconds to 11 minutes. The Olivia Tremor Control is a positive addiction!
Quote: "Don't do drugs, unless you want to. We don't unless we do, and neither should/so should you"
So, what's next? We're not sure but the rumours are that the band is currently recording an EP which should be out next year. There's also some scoring work for the film Dean Quixote as well, apparently.
home
