Labels: Reason Y
Review by: Scott Cheshire
This record is full of sex. I was fully prepared not to like it.
The band name boasts familiarity with an old Leonard Cohen song and the last song name drops a lesser known Kerouac work, or its just a pleasant coincidence. Either way, I expected some pretentious art assholes who in reality had just read On The Road for the first time.
But then I put the record on and so began what would become the soundtrack of every night in my apartment for the last two months as well as my preaching of the Partisan to all ears that would listen. I will not go into the usual second-coming promises of this record. I don’t even want to write this review because most likely it will be translated as “another great record”. But how many great records can there be, right? Well, there certainly aren’t enough.
The Partisan are nothing short of amazing. Where did these guys come from? I’ve never even heard of them. I’ve never even heard of any of the musicians.
It opens with “The Wedding Crown”, an instrumental piece with Godspeed-level drama and Make-Up like rhythms. The record has aspirations to mix mid eighties DC post punk, afro beat, experimental jazz (and I mean that, not the usual token jazz inclusion) and their own take on whatever rock-and-roll it is they’re making.
Great job on the recording, which was done in Cabbagetown [Atlanta]. It has an organic live sound that is imperative to the record. These songs are fluid and progress very naturally. There are no forced solos or choruses. It easily could have been over produced. Thank god it wasn’t. The record has nine songs and it’s still too short. It’s very difficult to place the record. If I hadn’t known it was recorded last year I easily would’ve believed it was recorded ten years ago.
It is, hands down, the sexiest, most dynamic, and rocking record I’ve heard in years and it was recorded in my own neighborhood. Go to the web site now and order it. If you don’t have access, call me, I’ll make you a copy.