Headphones
Headphones features David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Tim
Walsh (Pedro the Lion, TW Walsh), and Frank Lenz (Starflyer
59). Headphones was engineered and mixed by Jared Hankins
(The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice) in Seattle in the
early days of 2005. Built wholly from synthesizers (that’s
right, no guitars), live drums, and the familiar warmth
of Bazan’s syrupy vocal delivery, Headphones boasts
deft arrangements with timeless melodies and uncanny lyrical
depth, finding David Bazan at his best. Clean, open room
recording; digital subtleties with analog affectations;
seamless integration of electronic and rock and elements
— Headphones is a striking, sophisticated success.
Prefix
Mag "What’s so remarkable, then, about
Headphones -- a trio comprised of David Bazan and Tim
Walsh (both of Pedro the Lion) and Frank Lenz -- is not
that Pedro the Lion primarily makes rock music, but that
the intimacy of Bazan and Walsh’s synths-only record
makes the questions surrounding these musical categories
entirely superficial. Surprisingly, Bazan’s familiar
deadpan delivery and no-bullshit lyrical content sound
right at home bathed in the warm pastel-glow of chirping
analog synthesizers. When we might expect starry-eyed
abstraction, we get endearing tunes such as “Shit
Talker” and lines such as, “I guess that’s
what you get/ for being born in the seventies,”
Bazan’s hilarious consolation to his feuding friend.
And elsewhere, whether he’s talking girls (“I
Never Wanted You,” “Hello Operator”)
or talking terrorism (“Major Cities,” “Natural
Disaster”), Bazan never strays from his chummy informality.
Somehow, that manages to make these measly drum ‘n’
synth workouts a small revelation..." John MacDonald |
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