Search - Halo Benders :: The Rebels Not In

The Rebels Not In
Halo Benders
The Rebels Not In
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Are there two musical personalities with less in common than Calvin Johnson (Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System, K Records) and Built to Spill's Doug Martsch? In the hands of Martsch, a tune floats like a prismatic ...  more »

     
1

Larger Image

CD Details

All Artists: Halo Benders
Title: The Rebels Not In
Members Wishing: 2
Total Copies: 0
Label: K. Records
Original Release Date: 2/3/1998
Re-Release Date: 2/10/1998
Genres: Alternative Rock, Pop, Rock
Style: Indie & Lo-Fi
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 789856108121, 789856108114

Synopsis

Amazon.com essential recording
Are there two musical personalities with less in common than Calvin Johnson (Beat Happening, Dub Narcotic Sound System, K Records) and Built to Spill's Doug Martsch? In the hands of Martsch, a tune floats like a prismatic shower of shattered glass. His music can be pretty, grand, and moving, yet the words he sings are harnessed directly to the heart. Calvin Johnson works at the other end of the solar system, stripping every song, every moment, of all but its most forward-moving parts. For Johnson there is bass, there are drums, there is the black hole of his voice. In the lines that Johnson sings--the puns, the nonsense, the rhymes--nothing needs a reason, nothing needs to be explained. In the Halo Benders, these two worlds meet, held together by some unseen gravity--invisible, improbable, and infectious. Tilting between Martsch's schoolboy-sweet tenor and Johnson's basso profundo, The Rebels Not In strikes a precarious balance between retro goof-pop ("Devil City Destination," "Do That Thing") and the sentimental ("Lonesome Sundown," "Love Travels Faster") without watering down either impulse. Sparks fly, tears flow, all is well. --S. Duda

Similar CDs

 

CD Reviews

Effing amazing
Rick | Lacey, WA United States | 04/26/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you like rock, buy it. If you like experimental indie pop, buy it. Brilliant album. Doug Martsch rocks. Calvin Johnson is the man. This album is so good I own two copies."
Fun, interesting, great!
chuck darwin | california | 11/23/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Each song on this album is consistently good especially virginia reel around the fountain and foggy bottom which rival don't touch my bikini as the band's biggest hit. You get doug martsch's always loveable boyish harmonies and calvin johnson's deep baritone all in one fantastic album, how can you go wrong? Though some have said they don't like calvin johnson's voice; it really doesn't bother me. In fact I find even a little comical and fun, but that's just me. All in all you will not be disappointed if you buy this album."
Halo Benders earn their wings on The Rebels Not In
chuck darwin | 06/04/1998
(4 out of 5 stars)

"This side project for Built to Spill's Doug Martsch and Beat Happening's Calvin Johnson, in the past, has been like most side projects: Good but don't quit your day job. On The Rebel's Not In, however, they finally release an album that can stand on its own merit. It is by far their best put together and sounding album. The songs seem less like their almost spoken-word earlier material and more like, well, songs. The odd pairing of Martsch and Johnson's voices achieve a kind of strangely appealing harmony. The dynamic duo are in no danger of ever waking to find this album in the Top 40, but it possesses a quirky sensibility that is, at the very least, unique."