Pitchfork Forkcast: New Music: Abe Vigoda: "Dead City / Waste Wilderness" [MP3/Stream]

New Music: Abe Vigoda: "Dead City / Waste Wilderness" [MP3/Stream]

...And you will know Abe Vigoda by the Smell. No, not by any odor emanating from the college-age foursome themselves, though I haven't met the band to find out, but rather the Los Angeles club that put them on the map-- the same former Mexican grocery store that has become a headquarters of sorts for bands like No Age, Mika Miko, and HEALTH. On paper, at least, Abe Vigoda have the freshest sound of them all: no-wave abrasiveness wrapped around bright Afropop guitars, like some trend-spotter's dream combo of They Were Wrong...-era Liars and Vampire Weekend (or the tropics-obsessed Balearic strain running through dance-oriented European groups like Studio, A Mountain of One, Air France, and the Tough Alliance).

Turns out Abe Vigoda works out pretty well in practice, too. The band, which shares its name with the supporting actor of The Godfather fame, go to the mattresses on "Dead City/Waste Wilderness" with dense waves of No Age-like ambience, a heavy din of clattering percussion, galloping bass, and melodic guitars that ping like steel drums. The breathless vocals are buried low in the mix, so there won't be any debates about serial commas. Their namesake was once reported dead; Abe Vigoda are very much alive, and making the noise to prove it.

MP3/Stream:> Abe Vigoda: "Dead City / Waste Wilderness"

Wed: 05-07-08: 04:17 PM CDT
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