Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Decidedly dilettante


Growth Spert - Solar Maximum
Friends and Relatives Records


Growth Spert (the performance name of Minneapolis' Jon Middleton) is decidedly dilettante. The guitars sound out of tune, the violins may have two strings and those strings are possibly made from a cat's whiskers, and the percussion can only be described as "household," since it reminds you of butter knives tapping on an old-fashioned, cast-iron radiator or unsharpened pencils beating on an empty coffee can.

It's decidedly dilettante because there are tracks where the guitar chords aren't sloppy and unmelodic, but sharp and hummable, and there are other tracks where Middleton isn't straining his voice in the upper registers and sounding like he's a castrato huffing helium. And there is accordion, too—big, wonderful accordion lines that throb and pulse. In the cassette's liner notes, there are thanks for organic farmers and food stamps, but there is none for the person who knows how to play accordion.

So Growth Spert oscillates between pitiful basement experimentalism and music that exhibits more than a touch of prowess. Going back and forth between the two, as well as all the stops made in-between, is what makes this all so delightful.

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