Featuring Birds

Spin - Ranked #12 on Spin's list of "Top 20 Albums of '98." Spin - 8 (out of 10) - "...Quasi' sound--drenched in fuzzed-out keyboards and loopy tempos, like a warped carnival--cuts against the grain of Coomes's obsessive sadness, elevating it to the level of black humor. And when Weiss contributes vocal harmonies, the entire room brightens up." Q - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...a keyboard wash powered by the relentless drumming and ghosting harmonies of partner Janet Weiss, showcasing songs of a sweetly melodic bent..." Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...hides gut-wrenching heartache and despair inside sugary vocal harmonies and catchy, succint songwriting. Sam Coomes' George Martinesque keyboard work burbles and ducks around the blustery drumming of Janet Weiss..." Spin (1/99, p.91) - Ranked #12 on Spin's list of "Top 20 Albums of '98." Rolling Stone (5/14/98, p.61) - 3.5 Stars (out of 5) - "...hides gut-wrenching heartache and despair inside sugary vocal harmonies and catchy, succint songwriting. Sam Coomes' George Martinesque keyboard work burbles and ducks around the blustery drumming of Janet Weiss..." Spin (7/98, p.129) - 8 (out of 10) - "...Quasi' sound--drenched in fuzzed-out keyboards and loopy tempos, like a warped carnival--cuts against the grain of Coomes's obsessive sadness, elevating it to the level of black humor. And when Weiss contributes vocal harmonies, the entire room brightens up." Q (12/99, p.126) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...a keyboard wash powered by the relentless drumming and ghosting harmonies of partner Janet Weiss, showcasing songs of a sweetly melodic bent..."

A duo of Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss (who also drums in the acclaimed Olympia punk band Sleater-Kinney), Quasi is one of the most unique bands in the late 90's indie scene. Most of their songs find Coomes on keyboards and lead vocals and Weiss behind the drums, although both take turns on guitar. Their songs belong to the winsome pop tradition epitomised by Badfinger, yet most of them don't have choruses and are generally over in two minutes. Even the title mocks the notion of hit songs--"Birds" is just a short track of birds whistling.
What's perhaps most striking about FEATURING "BIRDS" is its despairing and sarcastic worldview. It's peppered with lines like "Life is dull, life is gray/At best it's just okay/But I'm happy to report/Life is also short". Suicide, the oppression of work, failure and broken romance are also recurring themes. Weiss' drumming is impressive and much more varied than her playing in Sleater-Kinney. The two harmonise together well, almost sweetly at times, making for ironic distance from the bitterness of the lyrics. This is a bleak and intelligent record that should make Quasi as well regarded as Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, and their other Pacific Northwest contemporaries.|