Deep Time
(Hardly Art)If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Then change your name. That’s been the strategy thus far for guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Jennifer Moore and drummer Adam Jones, formerly known as Yellow Fever, which issued a chronological cull on the Vivian Girls’ Wild World label in early 2010 before starting over on Sub Pop’s Hardly Art. The Austin duo’s proper debut still has a few holdovers, bookended by standouts from its Bermuda Triangle tour EP: the stellar title track and a cover of Horse + Donkey’s “Horse.” Early highlights “Sgt. Sierra” and “Coleman” establish Deep Time’s idiosyncratic girl-group pop, the former with Young Marble Giants minimalism and the latter with the Velvet Underground’s linear pulsing, but both lilted with Moore’s wordless refrains and Jones’ light-footed percussion. There’s a clear progression here, notably in the inverted surf of “Clouds,” the perfect plea “Homebody,” and moody “Marathon,” that’s even more efficient and full-bodied than previous efforts. Deep Time has finally arrived.
This article appears in July 13 • 2012.