Bon Vivants
Bon VivantsSoul Action 10" (Old Gold)
Garage torchbearers adept at keeping the genre's primitive instincts alive, the Bon Vivants bash out their charming tunes the old-fashioned way. Associated with a variety of other Atlanta acts old and new (The Preakness, Dirtbrain, King Congregation), here the quartet keeps things scruffy and basic, producing a suitable accompaniment for the psychedelic experience of your choosing.
Recorded on 4-track cassette, Soul Action revels in a crude ambiguity. Bent melodies float atop a swirling bed of distortion; thudding rhythms lean against muffled instruments warring in a thick, woozy haze. Ben Young's vocals, cagey and faraway, oversee the proceedings with an offhand cool.
While the record starts off at a somewhat measured pace, Side Two features more lively cuts. "Pink Sangria" burns off its punk jitters in a mere minute and five seconds, while "The Mall Song" shimmies with delinquent energy. At either speed, this band is one worth watching.
- Amanda Langston
Bon Vivants
Old Gold
Tomorrow's Friend
Tomorrow's FriendTomorrow's Friend 12" (Say Hey)
Tomorrow's Friend may make hippiedom cool again. This young Brooklyn act have followed up their debut 7" with a pair of Granny Takes a Trip-clad tunes that wouldn't feel out of place on a commune. "Always You Can" swirls its way into a full-blown psychedelic freakout, complete with layered, folky guitars, witchy voices rising in unison, and a hypnotic rhythm section featuring The Clean's Hamish Kilgour on drums. The thick, hearty "Hole in the Head" switches gears somewhat; Alessandra Maria and Melanie Moses' sweet country harmonies embellish the track's repetitive melodic stew. The band have a 12-song demo floating around, so expect to hear more from them in the future. Thus far, it sounds like the start of something big.
- Amanda Langston