Orchid Tapes are continuing their fine run of releases with DSU, the first full-length vinyl release from Philadelphia’s Alex G. For those who want more info on the man himself, The Fader’s interview is pretty comprehensive.
As with the majority of Orchid Tapes releases, expect lots of pitch-perfect lo-fi pop, undercut with a decidedly gloomy, lonely atmosphere. As with Coma Cinema before him, Alex G has a downbeat feel with an almost monotone delivery that kind of embodies the detachment of many young people today. Some tracks do buck this trend slightly, while keeping with the general distaste of arriving into adulthood at present. For example ‘Harvey’ has a Why? vibe, with lyrics and vocals that possess that heart-on-your-sleeve sincerity with a slightly weird/self-deprecating underbelly that is so familiar to Yoni Wolf’s writing.
I don’t want this to descend into a typical blogger over-analysis – where something that is good/true because it is simple/real is intellectualised to become less simple/real, and therefore less good/true – but I do feel this whole idea is an important one. It is the success in capturing this detachment in music that makes Alex G (and other acts in this crowd, Ricky Eat Acid, Matt Cothran’s Coma Cinema/Elvis Depressedly, etc.) such important songwriters. They are amongst the few people who are tackling the current feeling of young people (or Millenials, but that seems to be a frowned-upon buzz word used by authors of think pieces).
The bottom line is that most music (and indeed art) ditches any attempt at tackling this in favour of some form of escapism (be it nostalgia, melodrama, adrenaline, etc.). Those that do try usually use irony to ridicule the situation – the Youtube ‘star’ Sam Hyde and his MillionDollarExtreme videos are a good current example, and there have been many books that aim for the same thing (Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney etc. etc.). The problem with mocking vapidity is that after a while it becomes just as shallow and empty as problem in the first place.
Alex G and his colleagues seem to be doing a bit more. There seems to be an element of positivity, even if that positivity is nothing more than a connection, an appreciation that we are not alone. Even bringing up the emptiness faced by young people risks appearing naive or falling victim to the everything-is-lame ironists (I can imagine this post being made fun of as I’m writing it), so laying things out in a way that is open and halfway-constructive is as admirable as it is important. It’s sort of like saying that yes, sometimes thing are shit, and no, we don’t have any real answers and no one would listen if we did, but we are here feeling the exact same thing as you and that has got to count for something, right?
So, umm… this wasn’t really much of a review, but DSU is a special album and you should buy it. Maybe I’ve got the wrong end of the stick, but if the album speaks to you as strongly as it does to me then it has done it’s job, and the rest is a matter of interpretation.
You can get it on vinyl from Orchid Tapes (currently on its third pressing, after proving hugely popular via pre-order. I can attest that the folks at Orchid Tapes are really nice and throw in goodies like stickers and sweets and teabags), and on a pay-what-you-can basis from Bandcamp. and be sure to check out Alex G’s back catalogue on his Bandcamp page.