hype: octopus project
In five years, the Octopus Project have gone from an Austin oddball instrumental trio to A Band With Buzz. The buzz was built on the back of their live show — which, damnit, I still have yet to see — and they’ve regularly become That Opening Band people end up liking more than the headliner, the festival-stealer, the one to watch. When their excellent first album, Identification Parade, dropped in 2002, such a growth seemed nigh on impossible, but the new one, Hello, Avalanche (10/9), makes continued success seems assured.
Octopus Project play rock-fused electronic music that’s somewhere between Tortoise, Trans Am, Midwest Product, Giorgio Moroder, Colleen and maybe even Eric Johnson. They like keyboards, Theremins and organs, and heavy 4/4 beats that don’t quite swing enough to warrant hip-hop or big beat sampling, but are close. Honestly, it can border on being clinical at times — pristine is their bag — so it will never be your favorite record and they’ll never be your favorite band, but it sounds good, and they don’t demand much more than that.
My favorite song is the crunchy and cascading “What They Found” from Identification Parade, but “Crying at the Aquarium” is close. Here’s a clip for “Found:”
And here’s a clip for “Tuxedo Hat,” another great one:
Anyway, definitely grab their records and save some downloads for the new one. And if you want some of their stuff with vocals, don’t forget their collaboration with Black Lipstick (not the Black Lips; these guys sound like the Velvet Underground) called Black Octopus Lipstick Project.
The Octopus Project are great, and you heard right – their shows are lots of fun. They take a hell of a long time to set up, but it’s worth it.
Also, be sure to check out the collaboration with Black Moth Super Rainbow, The House of Apples & Eyeballs. It’s as good as their other albums.
Octopus Project aren’t bad, but Black Lipstick (mentioned above) are one of the best bands around (are they still around?) — check out Converted Thieves if you don’t believe me. And even better were the Kiss Offs, which came before Black Lipstick and included some of the same guys. If you like rock n roll, download their album Rock Bottom now!
this band is all hype. in a world full of fake gimmicks and lowered standards they succeed! don’t waste your time, you should just listen to Super Mario Bros.