My Favorite Records of 2004 - #12 - Glorybee GYB: The First Power (Self-Released)
As soon as I popped this album in the CD player, I knew it was going to be the best record by a New Orleans band to come out in 2004. I was, obviously, correct.
I first saw Glorybee at the Resevoir House, which is (was?) actually some dude's garage in the Warehouse District. They were mostly two synths and a vocalist, quite a bit of posing, and some fun, cheesy covers. The show was nice, and I saw them again at One Eyed Jacks in September with another good (becoming great) local band, Mexico 1910. Their set was overlong, the joke wore out by about 2 hours(!) in, and I sort of wrote Glorybee off as a fun gimmicky band to see once in a while. Thus, when I first picked up GYB: The First Power, I expected it to be funny and little else.
As I wrote about earlier in a piece for my old magazine, I was absofuckinglutely wrong about Glorybee. The album that they produced was not merely funny, it demonstrated a depth of which their live shows never showed the slighest shadow. GYB seamlessly melds modern lo-fi electronic pop, noise, early 80s R&B, hip-hop, and funk into a surprisingly liquid and cohesive debut. It's too catchy to be truly experimental but too wankish to be truly pop. Tracks like "Atlantic Dance Panic" and "Garlic Jr." run over 7 and 11 minutes, respectively, but manage to be compelling all the way through. "Basketball Camp" brings the heavy 1983 vibe. "Heavenly Hive Theme Song" rides a funky-as-hell guitar lick which survives despite being marred by some truly heinous rhymes.
This is far from a perfect album, but if you're looking for great New Orleans music, this is as near to perfect as it needs to be. Glorybee are a band that can go in many directions now, and should they choose to develop the strong, earnest, genre-fusing aspects of this release, they will become one of the best exports New Orleans has offered in a long time. This is the album that made me excited to be involved in the underground musical development happening in New Orleans. GYB: The First Power climbs confidently to #12.
I first saw Glorybee at the Resevoir House, which is (was?) actually some dude's garage in the Warehouse District. They were mostly two synths and a vocalist, quite a bit of posing, and some fun, cheesy covers. The show was nice, and I saw them again at One Eyed Jacks in September with another good (becoming great) local band, Mexico 1910. Their set was overlong, the joke wore out by about 2 hours(!) in, and I sort of wrote Glorybee off as a fun gimmicky band to see once in a while. Thus, when I first picked up GYB: The First Power, I expected it to be funny and little else.
As I wrote about earlier in a piece for my old magazine, I was absofuckinglutely wrong about Glorybee. The album that they produced was not merely funny, it demonstrated a depth of which their live shows never showed the slighest shadow. GYB seamlessly melds modern lo-fi electronic pop, noise, early 80s R&B, hip-hop, and funk into a surprisingly liquid and cohesive debut. It's too catchy to be truly experimental but too wankish to be truly pop. Tracks like "Atlantic Dance Panic" and "Garlic Jr." run over 7 and 11 minutes, respectively, but manage to be compelling all the way through. "Basketball Camp" brings the heavy 1983 vibe. "Heavenly Hive Theme Song" rides a funky-as-hell guitar lick which survives despite being marred by some truly heinous rhymes.
This is far from a perfect album, but if you're looking for great New Orleans music, this is as near to perfect as it needs to be. Glorybee are a band that can go in many directions now, and should they choose to develop the strong, earnest, genre-fusing aspects of this release, they will become one of the best exports New Orleans has offered in a long time. This is the album that made me excited to be involved in the underground musical development happening in New Orleans. GYB: The First Power climbs confidently to #12.
posted by P at 4:00 AM
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