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Hardman, "Shirts and Pistols"
This is a weird kitchen sink sort of record.
Quatermass
I can't shake the feeling that Shirts and Pistols is Hardman's version of "Shits and Giggles," as this album plays like a collection of oddball in-jokes and quirky jams thrown together for fun. Toying with pop song melodies and structures, Hardman wrangle up convincing electro-pop tunes that owe less to the punk ethos of electroclash than to psychadelia and surrealist non-sequiturs. Songs about superheroes share the disc with tracks that juxtapose the various meanings of "Hardman" using porn and preacher samples with equal gusto. When they want to, as on "100 Years," the duo can craft hypnotic, organic electro-trip pieces that hum with strings and reverb and repeating vocal phrases that drift out of consciousness. On the other hand, tracks like "18's Fabric" touch on a kind of groovy, digitally-enhanced folk that's full of free verse poetry, acoustic guitars and vibes. Whether they are playing with bluesy tones, straight up electronic pop, or something a little more leftfield, the songs are always tight and short, leaving the album with a bit of a compiled, schizophrenic feel. In fact, a few of the tracks just kind of stop dead, as if the experiment that spawned them was suddenly brough to a halt. This is, if ever there was one, a studio album where accomplished producers and musicians have afforded themselves the time and means to jot down whatever ideas might strike them. With that approach, there are inevitably a few tracks that could be trimmed without losing much, but nothing is so long as to overstay its welcome. It sounds a bit self-indulgent at times, and borders on being too intentionally weird, but somehow Shirts and Pistols manages to stay endearing and interesting for 17 tracks.
I can't shake the feeling that Shirts and Pistols is Hardman's version of "Shits and Giggles," as this album plays like a collection of oddball in-jokes and quirky jams thrown together for fun. Toying with pop song melodies and structures, Hardman wrangle up convincing electro-pop tunes that owe less to the punk ethos of electroclash than to psychadelia and surrealist non-sequiturs. Songs about superheroes share the disc with tracks that juxtapose the various meanings of "Hardman" using porn and preacher samples with equal gusto. When they want to, as on "100 Years," the duo can craft hypnotic, organic electro-trip pieces that hum with strings and reverb and repeating vocal phrases that drift out of consciousness. On the other hand, tracks like "18's Fabric" touch on a kind of groovy, digitally-enhanced folk that's full of free verse poetry, acoustic guitars and vibes. Whether they are playing with bluesy tones, straight up electronic pop, or something a little more leftfield, the songs are always tight and short, leaving the album with a bit of a compiled, schizophrenic feel. In fact, a few of the tracks just kind of stop dead, as if the experiment that spawned them was suddenly brough to a halt. This is, if ever there was one, a studio album where accomplished producers and musicians have afforded themselves the time and means to jot down whatever ideas might strike them. With that approach, there are inevitably a few tracks that could be trimmed without losing much, but nothing is so long as to overstay its welcome. It sounds a bit self-indulgent at times, and borders on being too intentionally weird, but somehow Shirts and Pistols manages to stay endearing and interesting for 17 tracks. samples:
