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Fridge, "Early Output 1996-1998"
Over ten years after the last of these tracks were recorded the members of Fridge have selected their favorite songs from their slew of releases on Output Recordings, the label that first championed them. Luckily they turned out to be my favorites as well. With headphones on and 80 minutes of their choicest cuts cued up, it is hard to be unhappy. The relentless pace Fridge showed, in both their rhythms and sheer number of songs recorded over a two year period, would exhaust the creative energies of many musicians. They were just getting warmed up. Listening back, after a decade of new developments and notable side projects, we can trace the trajectory they have followed, and hear within these songs, many points of origin.
Listening to this collection is like having a mix tape of all the best tracks taken from the originals, but with the bonus of six more, previously unreleased. Of those six only one is longer than a minute. The five short pieces tacked on at the end exhibit the same textural beauty as “Lign.” I always wished that song had been longer, but its concentrated nature makes it more of a haiku than a sonnet, and as such it is perfect. The five short pieces, like “Eff” and “Arr” also show that hardcore no longer has the sole market for songs that clock in at less than a minute. They have a post-punk edge and frenetic energy that make similar, and barely longer songs like “Cassette” (at a minute and a half) so enjoyable.
Knowing they can keep a song as short as it needs to be shows that Kieran Hebden, Adem Ilhan, and Sam Jeffers are in tune to the inner source from which their music flows. They listen with an ear open to the daimon guiding their skilled hands, making a song what it wants to be, not what they think it needs to be based on formulas and ideas such as marketability. They are equally at home crafting near epic length songs as they are with shorter fare. In this realm they allow musical events to spread out, creating a headspace to be lost in; “Angelpoised” is such a song. The driving rhythm of an 808 brings on the trance while simultaneously building forward momentum. Fluttering electronics are blurred around the edges and tight strings keep an uplifting melody. The textures are nothing short of blissful.
Gurgling keyboards and trumpet blasts are prominent on “Triumphant Homecoming,” the longer of the previously unreleased songs. Spastic drums are layered over top of a funky bass rhythm, giving happily unhinged sensibilities to what amounts to a musical ticker tape parade. “For Force” carves out a similar vein of gold, giving quite a rush.
There is no sifting involved when listening to this retrospective, no skipping around to find a good song. Each time the disc was put into the player it inevitably played to conclusion. What is more, boredom and tedium never set in. I usually expect to get bored in a culture so wealthy with music, much of it second rate. Here I found a polished gem among piles of CDs that seem little more than copper shekels. Fridge show that a lot can be done with the simple ingredients of a drum kit, bass, and guitar. When they add a smattering of effects, drizzle in some keyboards and drum machines, and mix it straight to cassette the possibilities are as exciting as they are endless. Ten years down the road these songs remain vibrant and strong.
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