The Curtains - Calamity

Asthmatic Kitty Records
Released: 10.24.06

Chris Cohen quit Deerhoof after the release of 2005’s The Runners Four in order to focus on making abstruse pop music as The Curtains. Whether or not that was a good professional or artistic decision remains to be seen. Nevertheless, Calamity is a collection of both great and plain shitty musical choices that is almost guaranteed a reputation as a head scratcher. Is it the strangest 60s inspired pop record of the year or is it a wildly boring example of simplicity and subtlety bombing? Well, it’s both. Seriously.

Calamity is more an album of moments than songs. For instance, at about the two minute mark of “Roscomare,” Cohen starts playing some fine White Album guitar and does something he’s rarely able to accomplish; he digs deep enough to make his voice sound beautiful. Still, the problem is that the first two minutes of the song are so vapid it’s painful.

Other songs, such as the thank-God-it’s-super-short “Invisible String” simply kill any sort of positive buzz the best moments of Calamity can conjure. This is The Curtains biggest problem. At times it feels as though most every good moment is followed by another moment that is the musical equivalent of an itchy scab.

That said, there are undeniably interesting occasions throughout Calamity. “Wysteria” is a dreamy bubble of keyboard and piano affection that dismisses rhythm as obsolete. “World’s Most Dangerous Woman” offers the listener the same sort of pleasure or satisfaction that comes from farting in the bathtub. Also, the title track (which could have easily found a home on The Runners Four) stands out as very organized, edged, and focused without losing any of the unpredictable character of the entire record. Calamity, believe it or not, isn't entirely offensice and it's certainly not pretentious, but that's a large part of the problem. Though creatively dense, it still too often sounds like dry tastes. Chris Cohen is far too talented and capable to keep making records this insipid.

-Kent Thompson