Single Frame's 2002 debut release, 'Wetheads Come Running', sounded like Modest Mouse dropping acid with Fugazi. Full of twisted pop songs and electronic experimentation, Single Frame created a unique and memorable sound that explored the boundaries of harmony and cacophony. The band's new EP, 'Burn Radio Airtest', modifies and evolves this sound over eight songs and 17 minutes.
Single Frame is a three-piece band, based in Austin, Tex. Henry Dent (drums, vocals), Brendan Reilly (guitar, vocals), and Jason Schleter (bass, keyboard, vocals) initially started Single Frame as a side project to their other bands, which they have since abandoned.
Single Frame excels at melding instruments and vocals to create songs that alternate between playful and harrowing. Perhaps more than any other band, they chose lyrics based as much on the way words sound as what the words mean. While this lyrical technique is present in all their work, 'Burn Radio Airtest' is louder and less accessible when compared to 'Wetheads Come Running.' Gone are the schizophrenic pop songs like 'Spacedust and Handcuffs' or 'Comm Jet' from their debut. Instead, Single Frame's newest release combines a harsh and aggressive first half with a more experimental second half.
'Burn Radio aAirtest' opens with the title track, an explosion of thumping bass drums and angular guitar, sounding almost like the Liars, until a soaring keyboard line enters. The keyboard and drums propel the song with relentless energy for two minutes, until they burn out in a sea of electronic static and unintelligible voices. On this track, Single Frame has clearly been influenced by the east coast dance-punk movement " a trend that continues through much of the album.
Next comes 'Been to a Party at this House (AVX Mix),' a remix of one of the songs from 'Wetheads Come Running.' On the 'Burn Radio Airtest' version, guitar partially replaces electronic effects. The highlight of the song is when the jagged guitars cut off, and the vocalists trade lines. Over a relatively tranquil guitar line, they sing: "A suitcase / Just leave us / No water / Forsaken." It sounds poetic when sung, and even when the words don't form a logical narrative, somehow you know what they're talking about. The song ends with a cathartic reprise of the aforementioned lines, leaving the listener with a powerful sense of desolation and despair.
'Dry Lips Usually Crack' is a drum and keyboard piece that recalls the title track. This isn't really a problem, especially after a great keyboard-driven chorus erupts from the pounding drums. After the fast-paced, aggressive beats of this song, Single Frame starts 'Clipper Ship' off with a slower tempo.
'Clipper Ship' opens with a keyboard line reminiscent of an old sea shanty, and a snaky, minor key guitar line joins in soon after. The song is an invective against modern society, replete with maritime imagery of "watery graves." When they sing "Skyscrapers and debt, and sweat and death and hate," they capture all the despair and contempt of Radiohead's 'OK Computer' in one line. 'Clipper Ship' is the most intriguing track on 'Burn Radio Airtest' -- it's too bad Single Frame didn't attempt more songs in this style.
Unfortunately, the second half of 'Burn Radio Airtest' can't quite match up to the excellent first half. 'Without Pens' is a short, experimental track that never really crystallizes into a memorable song. It sounds somewhat like a mediocre Clinic song, and the vocals and lyrics don't add much.
'Eavesdropper (Insomniatronic Mix)' is the second of the 'Wetheads Come Running' remixes. The version on 'Burn Radio Airtest' slows down the original, and removes much of the subtlety in the vocal delivery. The electronic manipulation of the vocals kills the emotiveness of the voice. Partway through, a drum machine enters and creates a nice interlude, but the rest of the song just doesn't have enough energy to make it interesting.
'New Car Remix' takes a guitar line from 'New Car Smell' on 'Wetheads Come Running' and combines it with electronic echoes and sampled voices. It creates a good, atmospheric sound, but at three and half minutes, it could use more variation. 'Burn Radio Airtest' ends with '100,000 Troops,' and experimental piece that consists of drumbeats, feedback and a barely legible, sampled voice ranting about political issues.
Reilly claims that '100,000 Troops' is a reaction to the media forcing its opinion on people. He stated in an interview: "The rhetoric to me has become like a bunch of random static behind a huge drumbeat."
'Burn Radio Airtest' shows Single Frame tinkering with their formula for explosive new wave punk. Although the first half is noticeably stronger than the second, it's hard to complain about a band that's exploring the boundaries of a new sound.
If you like 'Wetheads Come Running,' you'll find Single Frame's new EP to be fascinating evolution.
