Schooner "Hold On Too Tight" (54º 40' or Fight! Records)

Schooner create a hallucinogenic mush of indie magic…

Ever had one of those nights when you’ve overindulged a bit, wandered off into the night, where somehow the sodium lamp-lights and oncoming traffic swirl into a weird neon vortex... your legs can barely carry your weight, and before you know it you’ve passed out beneath a random tree somewhere and you’re having intense nightmares?

Well, for those who understand what we’re talking about, Schooner’s new acid trip of an album, aptly named “Hold On Too Tight” is the perfect soundtrack for such an occasion.

Based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Schooner was apparently created on a cold winters night, in a dark basement, with tapes and cups that littered the floor. The early incarnations involved vintage organs, stand up basses, and other off-the-wall instruments. These seemingly haphazard beginnings have certainly left a lasting imprint on their music style, which is chaotic, stunning, dark, and slightly schizophrenic.

Schooner embrace the very best of vintage 60’s psychedelia and indie - in particular the reverb-laden Alan MaGee Creation Records sound of the early 90’s - to create a fabulously unique noise all of their own. They have the softer sound of Viva Voce, the weirdness of Lambchop, the heady psychedelia of the Beach Boys, and the punchy Hammond hooks reminiscent of The Small Faces, an integral part of Schooner’s sound - all this across one album.

The broody “Pray For You to Die”, a 1950’s dance-hall ballad a-la-My-Bloody-Valentine, sounds like someone turned up to the high school prom and put something “funny” in the punch, and is possibly the nearest you can get to being drunk without the drinking. “Carrobro” is disarmingly honest: “You said you loved me without thinking twice/ I knew I didn’t but thought it was nice…” We’ve all been there, right?

The temptation to dissect each track on the album is very strong, but it’s probably best you get the album for yourself, it really is something special.

Think “Fear and loathing in Las Vegas” meets the kitsch of “Back to the Future” mixed in with some Mazzy Star and a whole load of Hammond and you’ll be somewhere near to describing this album. What a fucking marvellous band.

Date review added:  Thursday, July 12, 2007
Reviewer:  Sian Claire Owen
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Band Website