Ostensibly the project of singer/guitarist Tim Kinsella (along with a rotating cast of musical co-conspirators), Chicago-based indie veterans Joan of Arc is a band that can excite as much vitriol as admiration. Eschewing traditional song structures and reveling in sometimes willfully difficult avant-discord, Kinsella's arty, often inscrutable, lyrics and tendency to nervously jump from one musical idea to the next, have made the group's sound nearly impossible to pin down over the years. The band's 10th album, FLOWERS, with its sprawling post-rock contours and loose, improvisational jams, continues to depart from easy expectations, while containing enough flashes of brilliance to reward the patient listener.|
Rovi
シカゴ産アヴァン・ロックの代表格もいよいよ通算10作目。内省的な歌を響かせた前作『Boo! Human』の反動なのか、それとも何かが吹っ切れたのか、今回のティム・キンセラ隊長は小憎らしいほどに飄然と捻くれまくりで、つまりは〈らしさ〉が全開。活況を呈するフリー・フォーク勢とも無意識下で共鳴した(!?)、ポップでスペイシーな知的変態サウンドを次々と繰り出してはわれわれを煙に巻く。ああ、快感……。
bounce (C)田中幹也
タワーレコード(vol.311(2009年06月25日発行号)掲載)