Gumshoe: I’ve got to…got to GET UP, got to REVIEW CHLL PLLLLLLL for Tiny Mix Tapes. No denyin’…
Gumshoe Conscience: Dude, move on. You’re a goddamn whore, you know. You’d follow Zach Hill into a burning building, wouldn’t ya. WOULDN’T YA. I hate you.
G: Got to…got to…get up… [Chokes on own tears; gets up, in bathrobe; sits cross-legged on couch, gross; picks up laptop, writes…this.]
GC: I’m tired of living in the past. Aggressively Humble is so 2009. I wish I didn’t even have to say this stuff to you; it embarrasses us both.
G: It came out in oh-nine, sure, but this might be the one where Zach Hill really nailed it!
GC: Nailed what? Another fuckin’ disposable album to the wall?
G: NOT THIS TIME, sir. This time Hill has found a vocal personality vivid enough to match his DRUM personality, which is huger than an elephant’s dingle-dongle. Zachary Nelson, as much as I wanted to label him an Avey Tare-er at first, is the Real Deal. He banshee-shrieks, hoot-hollers, scene-sets, and tinkles those keys, baby. His pop-nuggets are double-dippable and so scrumptious they make me — well, a man just shouldn’t say certain things to another man…
GC: I’m not a mere mannn! I’m everything you hold dear, I’m your soul’s soul, I’m—
G: Cut the shit.
GC: Okay, I’m just a normal dude — Kip Rasmussen’s the name, if you must know. I’m 43—
G: My conscience is named “Kip.” Fuckin’ SWEET!
GC: Yeah, right!? It’s kinda killer. This one time, at a Winger show—
G: No time, broh-gaine.
GC: You’re right. I’ll return to the original subject: Chll Pll’s Aggressively Humble. I feel Hill is always looking to have others help him communicate what is obviously a music maelstrom going on in his head.
G: That’s the genius of it. Hill’s got sort of an all-over-the-place songwriting record, but as he develops these new projects with different musicians, he’s creating identities, searching for the ultimate form of expression. The Chll Pll and Bygones records have been enticing because he’s getting closer — seemingly with every album — to…uh one-two-three-fo’, “BREAK(ing) ON THROUGH” to the other side.
GC: Face it: You just love Zach Hill.
G: Guilty. But there’s more to Aggressively Humble than Hill. Nelson is one of the first dudes I’ve heard that seems right at home singing over the winding, wriggling drum phrases Hill tends to pump out without even knowing it. He also tinkles a mean key, accenting the percussive PLUNK with synths aplenty, keeping it always tasteful on ruby-red gems like “She Owns” and “Tales from the Crypt.” He sequences, he samples, he sings. It’s so simple yet so elusive a quality to find in a sea of salty songwriters. I’d never have imagined Hold Your Horse Is could lead to Technicolor rock this…fizzy.
GC: Um, I’ve noticed you’re starting to dominate this review. Do you think I’m going to just, STAnd by while you horse-fuck me?
G: I love it when you swear because I feel totally not-responsible. And yes, when I get a-talkin’ about Hill’s climb over the years I get a bit ramble-y, a bit tender…you can cut me with a fork…like fresh prime rib, if prime rib were anything like people seem to think it is, I—
GC: Dude, yr done.
G: Indeed I am… (“Super Zodiac” is like The Offspring singing over echo-beats in a blender — but good, “Now Then and When” breaks out the ol’ drum-solo/organ-grinder machine, and)—
GC: Hey, SHUT UP…
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