First, let’s get the fandom out of the way: SQUEAL~! I love these guys~!
Now some decorum. Line Drawings, as a LP and a 7-inch series, is a means to foster community. It seems rather odd considering how positive and collaborative my Twitter feed is and the whole micro-economy of equally micro-labels fostered togetherness. But there are those dissenting voices, those throw downs between all creative types that divide rather than unite. Though Line Drawings will not be a brokered peace, it does serve to showcase how four friendly musicians can be so in sync and yet separable personalities within their set community. I could argue that by establishing the idea of community, exclusivity is at play. Yet it does not show itself here. The work of each is a different idea and yet they work magnificently in this setting. Each composition is a continuation of and rebuttal against its predecessor.
But I’m afraid I’m clouding the work by straddling the line. That is, after all, the cohesive factor. What does a line truly represent and what that representation-as-projection means to its beholder. It’s a rhetorical question left untouched by Line Drawings. As I see it, this is proof that we can all work together even if we are separated by distance or philosophy. There is nothing to be had in terms of compromise, just in reaching a shared goal. There is power in [a] union and this one is only exclusive to those who wish not to belong. Any sound can go with any other sound; genre is just a division; a crudely drawn idea can become a fully formed work of art.
More about: Joe Houpert/Nathan McLaughlin/Cody Yantis/Josh Mason
