Can there just be an official moratorium on all new indie bands that don’t have a concept beyond “Let me water down this obscure genre for you?” Because too many indie artists seem to have confused drawing from interesting influences with outright stealing and hoping someone won’t notice. This kind of petty thievery to make up for a lack of original ideas may have flown in the days when only a handful of people bought records. But in the era where pretty much any kind of media ever is at their fingertips, this kind of carbon copying is simply inexcusable. But time and time again many of these bands receive praise on the grounds that they’re doing something that no one else is. That’s like claiming to be a better writer if you rip-off Thomas Middleton instead of William Shakespeare (Google it). Just because the source is much more obscure, doesn’t mean you’re any more original than the twenty or so bands who try to sound like the Beatles.
Unknown Mortal Orchestra are far from the only band that does this but they are certainly one of the most popular. The well they draw from happens to be a jangly mix of 70’s psychedelic pop with jazzy influences.To their credit, with all the talk of genre revivals, the short poppy side of 70’s psychedelic rock rather than it’s more obvious 20 minute guitar wankery is a an underused source.The even make a conscience effort to make the album sounded as authentically 70’s as possible through the use of downtuned vocals, mutted drums, and lo-fi guitar buzz. The trouble with this approach it’s the music equivalent of writing a history report. And much like a history report, Unknown Mortal Orchestra make sure to briefly cover all the highlights while still sounding like their deliberately droning as much as possible.
Not much has changed between their debut and II. And by not much I mean nothing. Not a single attempt is made to do anything beyond the same utilization of lo-fi guitar sounds found on their debut with some clicks, bells, and whistles thrown in for ambience. That’s not to say that none of the album is enjoyable. The deliberate -re-creation of a decade in music is handled lovingly and there’s a little charm that II carries in sounding like it could have easily been a forgotten album from 1974. And there are a few shimmers of individuality that sound through when the band lets their clinical execution drop for a bit. “So Good At Being In Trouble” and “One At A Time” find singer/guitarist Ruban Nielson effecting an uncharacteristic Mo-Town swagger in his singing that makes them the most fun moments on the album. And “The Opposite Of Afternoon” feature some playful solo guitar noodling near the end that sounds like a breath of fresh air. But these moments are brief before the band returned to their boorish, “by-the-stolen-book” approach. Then the same constant drone just assaults the ears till you’re delirious with boredom., only to raise your spirits with the start of the next song; repeat ad nauseam. The band plays it safe sticking to a few chords at a time per song and overmasking the rest with psychedelic whimsy, continuing their trend of pairing interesting influences with a studious dedication to replicating them at the expenses of creativity.
