reviews

ALBUM REVIEW
June 2003
Review from: music liberation project

We're From Japan!
Safe As Houses
Self Produced

Listening to We're From Japan! is much like driving down an empty wooded road in the middle of the night with the headlights shining on the yellow stripes coming at you three at a time. Long, sprawling, mesmerizing landscapes of guitars, bass and drums that roll by and each musical phrase is one you've just heard and each musical phrase is one you've heard before and each musical phrase is the next one and each musical phrase is the one before that. Even the subdued parts are a sustained, intense sonic assault. It makes me feel like I am always on the verge of some sort of great breakthrough. Like the moments leading up to the sun parting the clouds or when you are about to do something courageous or have an epiphany. Always the moment before release.

Musically, this is the bastard child of Thurston Moore and composer Henryck Gorecki and they have hired Robert Smith, circa 1990, as a nanny. For the most part the songs are vacant of lyrics, which I find appealing. I prefer my soundscapes that way. I listen to this album when I paint, or make love, or do something that will require my utmost loving and intense attention. With the songs ranging from 6m11s to 18m53s, it's easy to get lost inside this album and come out the other side wondering where the time went. So, I suggest you put on this album and do something you find important, like painting or making love, or find your own activity that likes it's own version of space-time.
-SH