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T-Minus Band : Four Legs to Three Reviewed
by Adequacy.net from Adequacy.net Monday, September 9, 2003 The following is a transcription of my thought processes. All right, the latest package from DOA's editor-in-chief. Let’s see what we got here. [thumbs through] The latest CD from T-Minus Band. Hmm, let’s see, the mag reviewed their last one, calling it “a little bit of everything.” Hmm, I guess that could be right. The cover looks like some kind of techno band with that obviously computer-generated weird airplane wing thing. Let’s look at the back; a big spiky silver ball. Oh yeah, I got it nailed: it’s gotta be techno. Let’s pop this sucker in… I admit it: I occasionally buy CD’s based on their cover art. Shallow? Yes. Most of the time I get burned, which is probably what I deserve. It makes me wonder, though: if I bought this CD because it had cool-looking cover art, how many genuine gems am I missing just because they have terrible cover art? I’ve heard the maxim a zillion times in my life (and probably said it just as many times), so let’s all repeat it with me: “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” In this case, my biases would have made me miss out on a good CD. When I popped in the CD and heard “Molt,” I almost stuck it back in the pile to review later. “Molt” is built on thick keyboard ambience and a creepy voice sample, over which some dark guitar work is thrown. The track segues straight into “Under the Radar Screen,” which continues the minor chord keyboard chords for the next five seconds before bursting into a sunny pop tune that’s completely unrelated to it’s predecessors. A definite surprise, but in the best kind of way. From there, the album continues to churn out upbeat pop songs with a slight slacker vibe to them, mainly contributed by the vocals of Troy T., the brains behind the whole operation. “Two Bit” is a great little song that features some great honky-tonk piano work behind the swinging rhythm section. “Fort” is a tribute to being young, talking about the joys of playing with your friends. The track features Troy talking over the rhythm section and guitar work, an approach used by Pavement on “Conduit for Sale!” The chorus of this song contains a great lyric perfect for anyone who ever feels picked on or put down, whether by bigger kids or by life itself: “We can defend ourselves… Why can’t you see that we’ll take you down with our sticks and stones?” “Between the Lines” and “Way to Go” continue the sunny pop tradition, the former with its Beach Boys-slathered-in-echo vocals and the latter with it’s snappy major-key guitar work. “Invisimel” is another great song, all jangly guitars and tight drumming with some sparse keyboards. There’s
really not a bad song on this CD, and it’s fun and very playful:
many songs start out darker-sounding, only to jump right into ear-pleasing
pop melodies and good-natured strumming. Nice work here. -- Rick
Arnow from ErasingClouds.com Issue 14, August 2003 The T-Minus Band's Four Legs to Three begins with a murky sci-fi sound collage that, despite the heavy metal guitar, sounds like it could be the intro to a Cannibal Ox album. Yet this isn't hip-hop but underground, DIY rock n' roll, as you'll know by the time you reach the second track, an explosive rocker in the vein of The Who called "Under the Radar Screen." "I'm under the radar screen, I'm moving oh-so close to the ground," vocalist/guitarist/songwriter/producer Troy T sings. Is it a joke on the below-the-radar presence of the band in the music world, does it tie into the album's jet-plane cover photo, or is it something completely different? Who knows, but the song rocks with force and dreamy harmonies, so who cares? Four Legs to Three follows up Technostalgia, the Birmingham, Alabama group's first eclectic blast of homemade rock, and is similarly worthwhile. As on that album, these songs sound like 60's and 70's-rock that's been taken into the basement and messed around with a bit. Song after song has both a big, arena-rock presence and a lightly psychedelic haze evocative of ghosts and spaceships. Still, the lyrics to the rock cranked out by the T-Minus Band aren't ruled by enigma; songs like "Get Old" have straightforward subjects right from people's minds and hearts (in this case, the "what will life have in store for me?" question). The album also slows down here and there to take in lazy-afternoon, country-ish songs like "Streaming." All in all, Four Legs to Three is a pleasurable, solid collection of rock songs that take sounds of the past and filter them through them the personality of a talented songwriter/musician.-dave heaton from themorningnews.org Album of the
Week: T-minus Band, Four Legs to Three So what’s this elusive T-minus Band sound like? Good question. The most obvious influence people would have attributed to his first album, Technostalgia, might have been: ‘Oh, I really don’t know.’ And they would have been right, since it was a totally bizarre pastiche of styles and genres that even attempting to qualify the album in any defined way was an exercise in pointlessnessitude. That is, the album defined a genre in itself; it was a neologism set to music. In fact, that album looked over the history of pop records, took what it liked, dropped what it didn’t, and deemed it an album. Was it a ‘concept’ album? Maybe. Didn’t say one way or the other in the liner notes, but still…you don’t need a blue satin sergeant-major’s outfit to be a concept album. Now, almost two years later, Troy T. introduces the new sound of T-minus Band. Ask those same people we did before what influence this album picks up on, and you’ll most likely hear: ‘This sounds like Brian Wilson.’ A-ha! Now we’ve got something to go on, a real cornerstone to describing an album. Otherwise we’d be talking about key changes, lyrics, and arrangements. Nope, not us, because NOW we’ve got license to employ the tried-and-true THIS SOUNDS LIKE THIS method of describing a record. You know it: ‘sounds like Beck’s creepy cousin’ ‘sounds like Mercury Rev and Spiritualized’ So, to sum: Four Legs to Three sounds like Brian Wilson. Which is to say that, when you hear this, you might think there’s a big hit of Brian Wilson swirling around, way high no doubt, in the center of every song. Which is also to say that this album is a lot more focused than Technostalgia, eschewing the rampant genre-hopping for a core sound upon which all the songs express different takes. Ahh, yes, Brian Wilson: That’s it. But then, why one of the songs, ‘Invisimel,’ sounds like a culling of a bunch of sickeningly catchy and lovable ‘80s TV theme songs, while making the whole of it just totally listenable and GREAT is just totally inexplicable. Maybe that’s just the genius of Troy T. at work again. Ahh, yes, Troy
T.: THAT’S it. from Fleabomb.com T-Minus band's
sophomore release, Four Legs to Three, is precisely what a sophomore
release should be: a surer step, firmly grounded in the footing
established by Technostalgia. In Four Legs Troy T has found his
own voice by breaking from his heavy Olivia Tremor Control influence
that was so prevalent in his first album. Four Legs is also much
more cohesive than its predecessor, which was more a collection
of songs than an album. The songs on his second release all coalesce
musically, and though they span such diverse subjects as blind sheepism
(Between the Lines) to the problem of human mortality (Get Old),
they all continue a thoroughly consistent mood. The mood itself
is one exceedingly hard to pin a name on, but if I had to try, I
would say it's one of highly energized intellectual malaise. Though
this may seem to be a contradiction of sorts, it's about the only
way to hint at what Troy-T is trying to convey with this album,
and how to enjoy it. I would say listen to it once, put it away
for a day, listen to it again, and then go through and read the
lyrics posted on tminusband.net. Even if the album doesn't immediately
leap into your collection of faves at first listen, I guarantee
you'll find yourself thinking about it the next day. At times it
seems that Troy is forsaking musical appeal in order to impress
the meaning of the song upon the listener, as in Streaming and Fort,
especially knowing that he is capable of producing powerfully attractive
songs like 2084 on Technostalgia. Bottom line is that this album
is a better album, but lacking in a strong single. Invisimel, which
you can hear by clicking the CD to the left, is a close second.
Four Legs to Three is a clear signal that Troy T has grown into
his own voice, but I think that large-scale success will evade him
until he embraces his ability to write and produce hits like 2084,
and stops writing lyrics that are so damn smart that no one can
figure them out. — Stanley
Holditch
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