The Velvet Underground has had countless imitators since Lou Reed pushed the self-destruct button, but few have had the skill to actually emulate the band. Yo La Tengo is most frequently - and justifiably - cited as carrying on the Velvet's mantle, but Galaxie 500 has clearly worshipped at the band's altar long enough to have mastered its dense, slow grind.
Today is the Boston-based Galaxie 500's debut, and it shows the band reworking various musical themes based on VU's "Ocean" to perfection. The droning grooves and relentless tom-tom percussion are the perfect backdrop for the intricate, ringing guitar feedback of Dean Wareham. Wareham would bring his sweet melodies to the forefront in his later band Luna, but here he buries them under layers of distortion. The gorgeous guitar calisthenics and heavily echoed vocals of "Tugboat" is a highlight, but so are the muscular riff storms of "Instrumental" and the foreboding Jonathan Richman cover "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste."
Wareham's voice is thin and occasionally off-key, but the music is easily powerful enough to compensate: his lyrics are intriguing enough, the melodies memorable enough to overlook this shortcoming. It helps that his guitar work is so Sterling (pun fully intended); I could listen to the spiraling, ringing solo of "Pictures" for hours. Actually, I have. Damon Krukowski's drums are subliminal and hypnotic, and Naomi Yarg's bass is understated and mesmerizing. The trio jams with conviction and enough talent to rise above their primal influences to craft a distinctive, compelling sound.
- Jared O'Connor
goregous guitar
calisthenics