Last year we had the pleasure of hearing a new band out of Portland, Oregon, called Menomena. Acclaim was strewn about their debut album, I Am the Fun Blame Monster, from a critical point of view. Fans alike were very responsive to this album that appeared out of nowhere. The band also managed to make their way onto our top albums of the year list. It was an album full of subtle, yet intense, instrumentation and heavily focused drum beats. The drummer responsible for those beats, and the gentleman who is responsible for the Lackthereof moniker, is none other than Danny Seim.
Unbeknownst to us, Seim has been recording under this moniker for the past six years and has released a slew of electronic beat-driven albums in that span of time. Lackthereof is in the same vein as Boards of Canada or The Flaming Lips, with clear hints of Menomena thrown in (for obvious reasons), but is mostly the development of synthetic sounds with organic tones to enhance Seim's ear for drums. Since he is a drummer first and foremost, it's easy to see why the core of this album is focused on the driving force of the beats. The main difference here, however, is that they are heavily produced by software rather than going straight through microphones.
The other half of Christian the Christian is the focal point of vocals that are shaped by Seim himself. It's these vocals that help press forward the idea that this album sounds a lot like I Am the Fun Blame Monster. At times they are very playful, with added backup layers, and other times they are somewhat subdued and fall untouched into the background. Although they can seem to go unnoticed, they aren't too distractive to the overall output of the project.
Comparing this side-project to I Am the Fun Blame Monster might not be fair. Hell, it might even be moot. However, the short of it is that Lackthereof is not quite as effective as Seim's work in Menomena. But, Christian the Christian is a nice little release and should find fans of Menomena grinning with joy that there is actually more material out there (indirectly) that has gone unnoticed for way too long. I expect we'll be hearing a lot more from this crew in the future, including more solo material from Seim himself. For now, though, get digging on these side-projects and find out why Danny Seim is more talented than even we knew.
1. Half Off Drugz
2. Let U Down As Good As I Did
3. Fear of Rapture
4. Abstinent Dry Sex
5. Tongues o' Fire
6. Mission with Christian
7. Safely in Jail
8. Take Him Away
More about: Lackthereof
