Smart, sexy, and full of zip-top-fresh approaches to lounge-rock staid, His Name Is Alive creep-y-creep-y crawl up and down your spine until there's nothing left to do but moan, bob, and doop-doop right along with 'em. Veterans of many, many moons are obviously responsible for Detrola; His Name Is Alive plop their pedigree – seven albums on 4AD and fifteen-plus years in the big leagues -- on the table and ante the shit up, twisting and contorting their arrangements fluently through several genre hoops in search of the perfect synth line; the perfect bass clarinet stanza; the perfect sax slam; the perfect double-dip vocal harmony.
When's the last time you heard one of those cutesy, Betty Boop bands with the way-too-precious singer whose idle posturing fizzled and dissolved like ashes in your mouth? Oh, it just happened to you? Fuck, I hate that. Quick, take a swig of cold, icy Detrola. Yes, pronounced like Neeekola, just pretend you're that douche in the commercial.... Mmhmmm ... Mmhmmmm-aha... See? Didn't that loosen the phlegm right up? Sure, sure ... What? Oh shit yeah, that WAS a good episode of Drexel's Class, that one with where he reads Willie's love poem in front of the whole class ... right, and the kid who played Willie went on to fuck a pie. Color me prune-purple, I always had a soft spot for Dabney Coleman; shit, I liked Hot to Trot! In fact, I never understood why Bobcat Goldthwait never scored any serious dramatic roles after Hot to. Shit, I'd bang him over Richard Gere any day. Unless we're talking Richard Gere 20 years ago, but that's just ... that's another story...
But I digress: His Name Is Alive will vex you. So much fluctuation, so many different avenues, and it all intersects and runs perpendicularly at the perfect moments! A murky, just-tamped-under Jones for The Beatles and Bowie presents itself within the piano comps of "Get Your Curse," while souped-up digi-pop nuggets like "Seven Minutes" channel Le Tigre or Lali Puna with straight four-beats and perky, nipple-twisting synth salvos. "Send My Face" drops drums for samples and twinkling harmonica, presenting a fluttering yin to "After I Leave You"'s floppy, ping-pong-indebted yang. A can't-miss effort, Detrola confidently goes for the jugular with each new movement, consistently drawing quick blood from several arteries and spraying blood, bile, and other unmentionables all over your nice living room carpet while waving at you with a seductive grin, the perfect contradiction from a band unafraid to get their hands dirty.
1. The Darkess Night
2. Maybe Again When I Leave U
3. Mama Don't You Think I Know
4. Sometimes Screw
5. Here Forever Always
6. Your Bones
7. You Need A Heart To Live
8. You And Me
9. Summer Left Your Heart Behind
10. Seven Minutes In Heaven
11. I'll Send My Face To Your Funeral