Loud Is As

USヴァージニア州が誇る最も独創的と呼んでも過言では無いインディー・ロック・バンドTSUNAMI。そんなTSUNAMIが掻き鳴らした最高にオルタナティブでノイジーなバイブスに溢れる貴重音源が、あのNUMEROから『LOUD IS AS』として5LPボックス・リリース!

フロントウーマンであるジェニー・トゥーミーを中心に、ライオット・ガールな空気感が蔓延る90年代のUSインディー・シーンの中で活躍したTSUNAMIの音楽には、DINOSAUR JR.を彷彿とさせる轟音、MUDHONEYの荒れ狂う激しさ、SONIC YOUTHの際どいエクスペリメンタル精神を感じさせてれる、まさに90年代USオルタナティブ・ロックの写し鏡とも呼び切れるであろうDIYなインディー・スピリットが、これでもかと言う程に具現化されています。シングル音源、デモ音源、オリジナルアルバムというTSUNAMIの全てを網羅したこの特別なLPは、全インディー、オルタナティブロックを愛聴される方々の耳を確実にノックアウトしてくれるはず。

They didnt drop the hammer or kick up a racket to the extent some of their indie peers did, but Tsunami were appropriately named. Supported by drummer John Pamer and bassist Andrew Webster -- limber players who could switch from a straight-ahead hardcore attack to glacial delicacy befitting a slowcore band -- Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson served up an exhilarating mix of squalling guitars, emphatic vocals, and incisive songwriting. Noise and melody met hyperarticulate feminist wit scrutinizing aspects of matters such as young adulthood and self-image, romance and sexism, and labor and capitalism, the lyrics wielding creative metaphorical imagery and explicit phrasing alike. Loud Is As, a five-LP boxed set from Numero Group, anthologizes the bands life as a recording entity, spanning most of the 90s. Its core consists of their three studio albums. The tempestuous Deep End (1993) features two particularly confrontational highlights in the speedy "In a Name" and the hypnotic "Slugger," and the brilliant "Genius of Crack," a downcast ballad that sways and surges. The Hearts Tremolo (1994), ringing with more clarity in the guitars, is full of intricate belters -- "Loud Is as Loud Does," "Kidding on the Square," "Cowed by the Bla Bla" -- with transfixing changes in tempo and emotion. A Brilliant Mistake (1997), less clamorous and more ornamented, brought in several friends on keyboards, brass, vibraphone, and even melodica. Tsunami were grinding to a halt, and some of the songs can be read as postscripts to their Mechanics Guide pamphlet, published to assist aspiring independent musicians. No less significant is what amounts to an expanded edition of World Tour and Other Destinations, their CD-only compilation of 7" material and compilation tracks, released between the second and third albums. "Flameproof Suit," "Left Behind," and "Not Living" are among their best, and there are excellent covers of the Modern Lovers, Minutemen, and Flower. Almost everything the band released is contained herein. None of whats missing is essential. Thanks to Numero, the early Cow Arcade cassette -- of which half the songs were re-recorded for the included Headringer EP, and therefore would have been somewhat redundant here -- is available digitally in its entirety. The boxs presentation is stunning, in sync with the bands graphic aesthetic, and includes a thorough band history and essays from noted music journalists with varying perspectives. In a way, this is a reciprocal gift to these communal D.I.Y. paragons who ran Simple Machines, the label for most of their recordings and an outlet for dozens of their inspirations and contemporaries, from Scrawl and My Dad Is Dead to Lungfish and Ida. ~ Andy Kellman