Sic Alps have put out a lot of music and their development is evident across this expansive discography. I’m not sure exactly what number release this is, but all you need to know is it continues the curve started by excellent compendium of older material, ‘A Long Way Round to A Shortcut’, the last LP ‘U.S. Ez’, and a recent single on Slumberland - L Mansion.
The juxtaposition of sonic adventure and tunes is just as apparent as before - everything is slightly blown out, but with a crisp edge to the fidelity, and the knack for assembling music that is pleasing on the ear is just as evident. Chord progressions possess a familiarity without relying too heavily on old standards, and even the feedback is in key when it crashes in or weaves throughout.
Cement Surfboard is such a tossed off mega-hit it should officially soundtrack chilling out instead of shit like Jack Johnson (I don’t care how low his heart rate is) and Super Max Lament On The Way lives up to it’s name and is a stunning, pretty, acoustic lullaby. All the songs have great names that somehow evoke their sound, and the artwork is also consistent with the aural aesthetic.
The same lolloping tempo underpins most of the songs here, and whatever accompanying chords or sounds come and go everything seems to fit just right. I’d quite like to hear single songs pushed as much as the LP as a whole, by which I mean the album contains many interlocking elements, but the individual songs themselves tend to fall into two brackets: melody crammed hit and noise jam. Most of the pop songs are very short and distinctly separate from the lengthier (I say lengthier, nothing comes anywhere close to four minutes) experimental sections. If the short songs were messed with and the best of both combined somewhat, they would perhaps become truly excellent compositions. As it stands the LP has to be considered as one long truly excellent composition. Having said that, Meter Man and The First White Man To Touch California Soil come closest to harmonising the disparate tools at Sic Alp’s disposal and are maybe the best songs here as a result.
This record is certainly no disappointment, but just maybe previous LP ‘U.S. Ez’ is the band’s masterpiece to date. ‘Napa Asylum’ is a sprawling monster at 22 tracks, but it doesn’t stretch any ideas too thin or feel bloated at all. Sic Alps are - by accident or design - masters of musical grace and poise, and the way all the musical components hang together in recorded soundspace approaches perfect.