+/–
You Are Here (Teenbeat) Much like their obtuse moniker, +/– can be hypnotically compelling as well as confounding. The New York-based quartet’s second long-player is an interesting mix of electronic loop and guitar-driven songs, thematically bound together by the pall of heartbreak. On a somnambulant, left-of-the-dial journey like “Ventriloquist,” these elements come together masterfully to create distinct-yet-foggy atmospheres where the listener has to fill in blanks between the minimalist synth beats. Like fellow New Yorkers Interpol, +/– has significant roots in the legacy of Joy Division and New Order, but they push these influences in a wider array of directions than the former. Perhaps this is the logical outcome of pooling Versus guitarists/vocalists James Baluyut and Patrick Ramos together with former Damnations drummer/ex-Austinite Chris Deaner. For all their loops and samples, +/– is also capable of writing solid, albeit esoteric, pop songs like the melancholy acoustic elegy “Summer Dress 1 (All Her Winter Clothes)” and “Cutting Out,” a somberly apt 21st-century tale of poor cell phone reception as the sound of a slowly dying love affair. But any band trying to cover this much stylistic ground is prone to the occasional stumble. Problems arise when their tendency to over-emote vocally collides with bombastic modern rock-style choruses on “Megalomaniac” and “Here We Are (Again).” The nonstop parade of lovelorn pathos doesn’t resonate as well when it’s this forced. Despite these missteps, You Are Here earns partial credit for achieving a (mostly) healthy balance between man and machine. (Thursday, March 18, 11pm @ Friends)
This article appears in March 5 • 2004.
