Album Review: Rademacher – Bellyflop EP

By Travis Woods

Release Date:  10.27.09

Label:  JAXART

“The cool thing about performing a bellyflop,” Rademacher frontman/ songwriter Malcolm Sosa once told Web in Front, “is that you know it’ll be pretty painful, but if you hit the water just right, it can be pretty spectacular as well.”

Produced after a tumultuous year of lineup shifts (and a resultant stripped-down sound) and touring, Rademacher’s newest EP may have been painful to craft, but it isn’t quite a flop–though it may lack the far-reaching sonic weirdness and sheer adventure of the band’s last full-length, Stunts, the Bellyflop EP carries with it the sharp and nuanced songwriting of Sosa’s sideways rock and pop, from the noisy, wild-eyed buzz of opener “Champion in the Pool” to the Television-styled angularity and throbs of closer “Car Wash Donations.”  Also present are live highlights like the slowly building swagger and stomp of the Panty Lions cover, “Herndon and 99,” and the spidery guitars and howls of “Charles,” two songs that showcase the Rademacher’s harder-edged sound without losing the band’s penchant for oddball sonic details.  If anything, Bellyflop feels more like a cannonball dive: it’s hard and fast and it splashes and crashes through its fifteen minutes with a survivalist determination–not quite as painful, but still pretty spectacular.

Listen to “Charles”

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October 30, 2009 | Filed Under Album Reviews, New Local Music in 2009 

Comments

One Response to “Album Review: Rademacher – Bellyflop EP”

  1. Club Spaceland » Tuesday 08.03.10: RADEMACHER/ HEXHAM HEADS/ NAME OF STARS/ WRONG WAY DRIVER on July 28th, 2010 12:02 pm

    [...] Produced after a tumultuous year of lineup shifts (and a resultant stripped-down sound) and touring, Rademacher’s newest EP may have been painful to craft, but it isn’t quite a flop–though it may lack the far-reaching sonic weirdness and sheer adventure of the band’s last full-length, Stunts, the Bellyflop EP carries with it the sharp and nuanced songwriting of Sosa’s sideways rock and pop, from the noisy, wild-eyed buzz of opener “Champion in the Pool” to the Television-styled angularity and throbs of closer “Car Wash Donations.” Also present are live highlights like the slowly building swagger and stomp of the Panty Lions cover, “Herndon and 99,” and the spidery guitars and howls of “Charles,” two songs that showcase the Rademacher’s harder-edged sound without losing the band’s penchant for oddball sonic details. If anything, Bellyflop feels more like a cannonball dive: it’s hard and fast and it splashes and crashes through its fifteen minutes with a survivalist determination–not quite as painful, but still pretty spectacular. – Web In Front [...]




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