Search - Rodan :: Rusty

From a Slint Perspective

Brock | Lubbock, TX United States | 03/16/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you've arrived at this CD the same way I did (through this website's "If You Bought This, You'll Like THIS" feature) then there's a good chance you are a fan of Slint. If you've never heard of Slint, I'd recommend buying their "Spiderland" album first, since that would be the center of gravity around which all of these off-shoots revolve.While "Rusty" by Rodan is a great album, it's not exactly what I was expecting after reading the other reviews here. The first track, "Bible Silver Corner", does recall the ocean of guitar drones and chimes that I would typically relate with Slint and similar bands (such as Mogwai and The For Carnation). But beginning with the second track, it turns into an up-tempo, angular punk buzz while the vocals flip back and forth between a scream and a soft, almost unintelligble spoken word. If you've ever wondered what it would sound like if a punk band decided to make a prog-rock album, well, stop wondering and check out "Rusty".If I had to compare this album to anything by Slint, I'd say it most closely resembles the heavier moments on Slint's first album, "Tweez". The songs on "Rusty" seem to thrive on harsh contrast by sprinkling a few melodic interludes in between the buzz, but these passages never really take their own direction - instead, they seem more like shortcuts back to the main road. So, since I bought this album expecting "Spiderland" but instead I wound up with an earful of "Tweez", I figured it be nice to post a review here that got a little more specific than the typical "If you like Slint, you'll like Rodan" offerings."

Early 90s Louisville rock sculpted in full relief...

Joseph Martin | Baltimore, MD United States | 05/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rodan's Rusty is, simply put, one of the most beautiful and jarring records I have ever heard. Fusing the atmospheric spoken word meditations of Slint's Spiderland with a very primal sort of anger that Slint only sometimes broached, Rusty tears into the listener and forces them to bend to its will. The album starts off inoccuously enough with the almost neoclassical "Bible Silver Corner." However, after 7 minutes of pretty guitars, all bets are off: the record careens into high gear with a blindsiding transition into "Shiner" and rarely lets up from that point on. Every song following the two opening tracks seems to feed off their contradictory sensibilities - pretty guitar/bass riffs and softly spoken poetry continually crash into muscular math-rock riffing and sincere, anguished yells. "The Everyday World of Bodies" tells a poignant tale of first [love]with sensitivity and confusion and disquieting feeling; "Jungle Jim" and "Gauge" merge anthemic guitar work with contorted song structures. The band's three singers sing with the desperate honesty of people who have nothing to lose. Guitarist Jeff Mueller's lines have a sort of tension and release - his screams of "Shoot me out the sky!" and "I will be there, I SWEAR!" in "Shiner" and "Bodies," respectively, are some of the most cathartic vocal takes ever put to tape. Tara Jane O'Neil also consistently penetrates the listener with her deep, dreamlike singing on "Jungle Jim" and "Tooth Fairy Retribution Manifesto." There's really too much to say about this record to accurately and thoroughly account for in an Amazon.com record review, but suffice to say that Rusty gets under your skin."

Like fine wine

Joseph A. Coleman | Louisville, KY United States | 01/16/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"unforgivably, i turned down the opportunity to see Rodan live in order to do something that i can't even remember. only after the band broke up did i come to believe that Rusty is perhaps one of the best indie albums ever. Rodan's only album contains some of the best elements of music from Louisville . . . moody, angular, energetic and melancholic. tara jane o'neil, jason noble, jeff meuller and kevin coultas make up the foursome. each member has since branched off to join other reputable bands such as: June of '44, Rachel's, TJO, the Sonora Pine and Shipping News. highlights of Rusty include "Toothfairy Retribution Manifesto", "Gauge" and "Bible Silver Corner". i actually like this album better than both of the Slint full-lengths. all of the members of the band are in this really bad movie filmed in Louisville and Chatanooga called "Half-Cocked", which you can order from a nameless indie label. if you get burned-out on this album, Jeff Meuller and Jason Noble reunite along with Kevin Crabtree to form The Shipping News. they are worth checking out."