Name: Oranger
Album: New Comes and Goes
Year: 2005
Style: Indie Pop-Rock,
Similar Bands: Nada Surf, Steve Malkmus, The Wonders (Mike Viola / Fountains of Wayne), Weezer, Shins
One Word Review: Lazi-tude Indie-pop
Based Out Of: San Fran, CA
Label: Eenie Meenie Records
New Comes and Goes - Cover & Back
New Comes And Goes - Liner Notes, Tray & CD
New Comes and Goes (2005)
- Crooked in the Weird of the Catacombs 4:05
- New Comes and Goes 3:27
- Sukiyaki 2:11
- Garden Party for the Murder Pride 3:12
- Outtatoch 3:56
- Radio Wave 3:09
- Wacha Holden 2:30
- Crones 3:28
- Haeter 3:18
- Flying Pretend 3:44
- Light Machine 2:36
- Target You By Feel 2:13
- Come Back Tomorrow 2:11
Album Rating (1-10): 8.0
Members & Other Bands:
Tony Espinoza - Mixing
Matt Z Harris - Producing, Engineering
Justin Lieberman - Engineering
Paul Bradley - Engineering
Anne Allison - Engineering
Rachel Allgood - Engineering
Mike Drake - Guitar, Vox, Theremin (Overwhelming Colorfast, Stick Figures, Texas Allstar Jazz Camp, Dubstar, Hot Fog, Slouching Stars)
Matt Harris - Bass, Guitar, Vox, Spongefork (Overwhelming Colorfast, Stick Figures)
Pat Main - Piano, Moog, Wurli (The Snowmen, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tom Heyman, The Court & Spark, John Vanderslice, Map of Wyoming, Actionslacks, Plus Ones, Granfaloon Bus)
Bob Reed - Guitar (Overwhelming Colorfast, Trashmen, Mamou Prairie Band, Mombasa)
John Hofer - Drums, Percussion, Sock (Mother Hips, Persephone's Bees, Kelley Stoltz, Downy Mildew, Freewheelers, Hiss Golden Messenger, Tom Heyman, John Vanderslice)
Alan Stewart - Mainframe
Jett Drolette - Art Direction & Sleeve concept
G Todd.com - Photograp
Lyndsey C. Hawkins - Photographs
David Tounge Bennet - Model
Miss Elizabeth Rutledge - Model
Reeth Kitchards - Model
Unknown-ness: I've never heard
of this band. It was a CD as part of a larger assortment that a friend gave me,
so I have to believe that, with a year of 2005 and an energy filled album cover
and color scheme, that this will be lively guitar pop trying to be something
more credible and authentically rocking.
Album Review: This is the
fourth and final album for Oranger, one that finds them returning to guitars
and a straight forward sound. All of the members have had their fair share of
other bands sine the breakup, but nothing hitting the popular indie (or
mainstream) stratosphere.
“Crooked in the
Weird of the Catacombs” starts with a nice, indie bassline and drum beat.
Polite, slightly whiny vocals follow the melody laid out before it and it
follows a basic powerpop guitar chord progression into the chorus. This feels
like a slightly roughed up version of something you’d have heard come from the
film That Thing You Do. The bass line and slow-quick-quick-slow rhythm pattern
carry us out of the song as they did starting it off.
“New Comes and
Goes” hits the reset button on the melody, seeming to be an alternate version.
The vocals are a slacker version of Weezer, minus the energy, and a less
erratic Steve Malkmus / Pavement style. The chorus is even less energetic than
the verse, vocally. The instrumental bridge gets crazy fuzzy and even
electronic in the background. But then the relaxed vocals come back, and the
song finishes out on a high note.
“Sukiyaki” is a
driving drum and piano song. The vocals are added and they sound just like the
Shins with little spurts of vocals fitted over the melody. No momentum is lost in
the chorus, as it keeps charging through. This is a nice indie pop song.
“Garden Party for
the Murder Pride” loses the melodic vocals and is almost spoken word in
comparison. The guitars are more aggressive, and stompy. The super-catchy
melodies come crashing down in the very Weezerish chorus. Over the instrumental
breaks, they substitute guitar solos with sputtering radio wave transmissions,
which peppered in throughout the rest of the song.
“Outtatoch” is a
driving song, with a much more organic, country-drive style. The vocals are a
little Spoon-ish, but are more lax and distant from emotion, perhaps a little
Lou Reed-like. There is a little garage-band style mixed in, mostly through the
drum production and the chosen keyboard sound. The song seems to hit
auto-pilot, and just continues to go on for a bit too long.
“Radio Wave” is a
rushed, neurotic song, sung with the grace and ease of a spaced out, Zoloft-drugged
out singer. Think a polite Nirvana (“Sliver”) produced with the idea of power
pop in mind. The main problem with the song is that the chorus is too long,
with the repetitive, interval pieces being too short.
“Wacha Holden” there is very little space to breathe between tracks on this
album, as they are harshly juxtaposed up against each other. This song starts
out with a clear, minimal production in the verse, which only overwhelms itself
in the chorus with instrument competition. It reminds me a little of the style
from Possum Dixon’s less energetic songs.
“Crones” combines
again the mellow singing style with an instrumental melody that is beckoning to
break out and run wild, but is restricted to color within the lines. The chorus
is slightly off key, which is typically fine for alternative songs, but the music
is fighting hard to stay melodic.
“Haeter” puts the
stair stepping melody ahead of everything. All of the melodies and rhythms support
it, in a dark, destructive march. Perhaps there are some elements of Guided By
Voices, laying hooks and ideas on side by side in a track.
“Flying Pretend” is
an emotional, sad Mike Viola-ish piano/vocal ballad. Some feedback and fuzz are
gently introduced in the background after the first minute. After two minutes
tonal changes in the background are supported by an acoustic guitar. But the
piano remains dominant the entire time.
“Light Machine”
does not waste any time or space between tracks, as the atmosphere bleeds into
this song, starting off with feedback and space-age fuzz. The effects fade
away, and a driving pop song emerges. The guitars chug along, and the They
Might Be Giants melody plays along on top of a keyboard and more feedback
effects in the background.
“Target You By
Feel” lets everything else drop away except the chugging guitar, and this track
feels like it is going to blast off into a pop-punk song. But rather, it
develops into a catchy pop song once it gets to the chorus.
“Come Back
Tomorrow” ends the album without a clue that the energy is about to end. The
again head down sprinting forward guitars enjoy the open range of guitars
without vocals for a good 45 seconds, before the deeper monotone vocals begin
repeating the title over and over, along with “There’s no one home.” And that’s
it, in a repetitive loop without much deviation. Its one simple idea fleshed
out for a 2+ minute conclusion.
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