Album Reviews: Restorations, Big K.R.I.T., etc.
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Punk-meets-Americana has reached its creative pinnacle on Restorations' LP3.
Restorations | A-
Punk-meets-Americana has reached its creative pinnacle on Restorations’ LP3 (SideOneDummy). From the muddled opening atmospherics on “Wales” to the dramatic, tempo-shifting closing beats on “It’s Not,” this Philly band’s latest record reveals a dexterous sonic tapestry over repeat listens while losing no immediacy from its interlocked wailing guitars, bombastic drums and Jon Loudon’s grizzled vocals. Maybe the best damn rock record you’ll hear all year.
—Sameer Rao
Crying | B
Programmed Game Boys, hooky-as-fuck guitar riffs and Elaiza Santos’ vapory vocals mine the best gems from SNES beat-’em-ups and/or those absurd J-pop tracks used in anime opening-credits sequences on Get Olde/Second Wind (Run for Cover). It’s the spirit of that sugar-blasted digital entertainment that Crying harnesses, repurposed and repackaged as if this trio of introverted upstate New York brats deserves its own Saturday morning cartoon show. (Remember those?)
—Marc Snitzer
Arca | A-
Even for Arca fans, Xen (Mute) might be too fragmentary. Having built something akin to a mainstream reputation (if not fame) working with Kanye and FKA twigs, the Venezuelan producer has delivered a full-length debut that’s an intractable, formless, almost preternaturally quiet collection of sonics. When he catches your ear, though, you get intimations of sci-fi reggaeton (“Thievery”), a synth-string-séance for Hitchcock (“Tongue”) and plain, aching beauty from a possible future (“Wound”).
—Dotun Akintoye
Big K.R.I.T. | B+
Cadillactica (Def Jam) begins with a gnostic myth of “Kreation” complete with K.R.I.T. as an easily persuaded demiurge. The notion of an 808 as the Big Bang is about as amusing and clever as he thinks, and “hoes can’t twerk to the high-hat never” is a nominee for line of the year. The relative lack of samples pushes K.R.I.T.-the-producer to work some positive changes to his down-home ’Sip funk, and though his singing guests outdo his rapping ones, K.R.I.T.’s heart is big, his mind sharp and his tongue even sharper.
—Dotun Akintoye
