Athens, Georgia's Gerbils--Will Westbrook, Scott Spillane, and John D'Azzo--all play in extended lineups of Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control. The Gerbils have their own sound, however, and it's a delectable one. Gushing with ecstatic, fuzzed-out, shambling, warm pop melody, the harmonies are sung at a ridiculously high pitch. The vocals sound unreal; the group consistently achieve Muppets in Space/ Menudo-boy registers that somehow sound really great. The band members are connoisseurs of lovingly deranged pop and borrow equally from late-'60s bubble-gum psychedelia, early-'70s Canterbury prog, and late-'80s bedroom-recorded strummy stuff. Sound levels are intentionally pushed well into the red, flavoring the songs with a wide range of premeditated distortion. The first tune alone, "Sunshine Soul," will propel you through your day, stuck on repeat play in your brain. Its sweet chorus, "Your sunshine soul, it seems to me like some melody," will add a lilt to your step, a smile to your face.
--Mike McGonigal
Customer Review: Looking for a lo-fi high?
This CD is simply stunning. If you're looking for a hihly polished gem that has been cultivated and nuitured by some big-wig record company, LOOK AWAY. Go listen to britney spears. this cd is about raw energy and talent. it's fuzzy, it's loose. it off key. it's impecable.
Customer Review: Getting sleepy
On-again band the Gerbils are technically a part of the Elephant gang, but you wouldn't know it to listen to their debut "Are You Sleepy?" Half of it is your basic indie-rock, with some slightly warped tracks in the middle of the album, and delivered in an unappealingly sloppy way. A sort of country-tonk kicks it off in "Sunshine Soul," a song that doesn't match what comes after it. Things get more indie-rockish with "Is She Fiona" and "Crayon Box," before lapsing into the dancy "Fluid" and the bubbly experimental "Wet Host." Then it's back into indie-rock and some solid but unexciting ballads, before wrapping up with the forgettably catchy "Grin." It's basically an average indie-rock album, but one hampered by unappealing vocals. The rock songs are pretty grounded, but their grounded-ness is what holds them back -- they hint at being capable of being more, but settle for being singsongy, simplistic and folk-tinged. There's nothing too special here. Musically it's pretty uneven, though taken alone the songs are fairly good. The fuzzy guitar and bass give a lo-fi sound to the rock-ier tracks, and some electronic flourishes give extra life to "Fluid." About halfway through, it seems to occur to the Gerbils that they need some psychedelic stuff, so they patch in some bubbling, gothic sounds -- interesting, but not entrancing. Let's get this out of the way: Scott Spillane has a very high-pitched voice. What's more, his voice develops an annoying nasal quality at times -- it's okay when he sings ballads like "Glue," but just annoying when he tackles the ghastly "Walnuts." It's not a requirement that a rocker have a perfect voice, but Spillane's does not fit the music. The Gerbils have potential, but it's not realized in their debut "Are You Sleepy?" Lackluster and marred, but with some solid songs buried in there.
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