Don Caballero. Polvo. These are the first names that spring to mind when listening to this Portland, OR outfit's debut. The opening track kicks off with a loopy keyboard, shortly joined by a spot-on Don Cab impersonation by drums and guitar, with shifting time signatures and guitars that stab in and out of the mix. The next track rolls out of your speakers with Polvo-lounge bass guitar and drums, sleazed up, but still bouncing all over the map from one measure to the next. This is funky number theory to DC's calculus and Polvo's linear algebra. Then more guitars that "boing" into existence and slowly decay back out. But, what's this? It's someone singing through a megaphone? But, that sounds like...Lightning Bolt...
And so it goes on the third track. In spurts, they channel the pounding frenzy of the Providence loonies, kind of like what you'd expect out of an LB sound test. The following song is quiet and carried by spacey keyboards and scarce drums, only to lead into a little calmed down and angular imitation of the reigning noise-masters. Nice Nice don't ever really commit to this style again on the album, but vocals through a bullhorn stick around. They definitely place a point on that section of the graph.
They bounce around inside these parameters for the rest of the album, definitively changing their tone on every track. Keyboards bleep and bloop throughout, guitars don't riff, and the drums leave no land uncharted. In the end, despite the prior comparisons, they wind up sounding a lot like Need New Body on their outstanding LP of last year, UFO. Nice Nice accomplishes all this with only two members. It's definitely impressive to describe such a full and varied sound with only four hands at your disposal. It's ostensibly a live album (despite absolutely no crowd noise) with no overdubs!
In the end, it makes for a good listen if you like noisy, math-y music. Nice Nice don't concretely lay claim to any sound, and I think that's partly a fault of the live aspect. I'd really love to hear a more coherent studio album, as this band shows a lot of promise. As it stands, if you like any of the above bands, do check out Nice Nice. If not, don't be surprised if Chrome isn't your slice of pie.
1. Look You're on TV
2. Cold Sweat, Pt. 16
3. Chez Clix
4. See-Thru Plastic
5. Chrome Cabal
6. Joinus
7. Bees Make Honey
8. Nein
9. Thank You
10. Pulp
11. On Neon
12. Fight the Face
13. They React!
14. Disclaimers 1-5
15. Tiny Steps
16. We Go Towards