Review: Double Negative’s Daydreamnation

October, 13, 2010 , by Vince

image provided by Double Negative

Over three years ago, Double Negative released their first long (but short) player, The Wonderful and Frightening World Of…. In 2010, after a taxing label change and three (or maybe more?) attempts to record it, Daydreamnation was released during the month of August. Many within the music community knew the back story of this record all too well, but in case you are not aware: They recorded the album once and were not satisfied with the results. Their next attempt was well on its way to completion when some crooks broke into their practice space and stole the unit that contained the recorded material. Finally, with some help from their friends, they finally put this kid to bed. Daydreamnation is only slightly longer than their first LP, but still not long enough before you have to turn over the 45 RPM slab. The cover contains their logo, in hot pink, on a shimmering metallic background. The lyric sheet uses a color combination meant to exercise your eyes in uncomfortable ways. They are jarring and jabbing at your senses before you even hear it.

The record takes its name from the Sonic Youth album, but if you are familiar at all with Double Negative’s music, well, they are not Sonic Youth. They are also not Agnostic Front, some weird outfit on SST or obscure early Dischord band. They are four guys that live in Raleigh, work their jobs, and just happen to play the kind of music that most people think should be saved for the kids. But it is their way of having fun, so you may as well accept it. The energy when they play is transferred onto the audience and gets fed back to the stage until the room becomes a cyclone of tangible energy. Inevitably, you become part of that cycle, you get lost in the noisy void. This album captures that essence.

Double Negative enlisted various friends to help them complete the recording. That practice yielded some sonically different results. The clarity of the albums opener, “Erase Yourself” collapses when buried vocals on “In Patient Out” try to find their way out of the onslaught of distorted stringed instruments. The songs never lose their ferocity throughout the album, only changing via a sonic sleight of hand and various tempos. The general sound of Daydreamnation is like watching a pinball make its way around the machine. It stays within the confines of the playing field, but you don’t know where it’s taking you, all the while enjoying the ride, particularly when listening to “Knife on a String”, “Discovery Machine” and “Beg to a Vile Nude” in succession. The flippers react to the music. You frantically try to keep the ball in play, but gravity defeats all and time runs out. Before you know it, you run out of quarters and the game is over. The album closes with a seamless blend - a controlled studio environment into the chaos that only comes from playing house shows. When the turntable needle kicks itself back, you hope to get another play, a 1-Up or some other form of continuance. All you have to do is get up and flip it over.

Devour is up next. Thank you, Penguin house.

Double Negative will be playing with Corrosion of Conformity at Kings Barcade on Thursday, October 14th.