Numbers
Now You Are This (Kill Rock Stars)
By Kelly Shindler
Published: September 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
Numbers, the trio that’s been kicking jams out of the San Franciscan wilds since 1999, are back with their fifth full-length, Now You Are This. However, it’s a radical departure from their signature post-punk, genre-contortioning, drum-synth-yelp fests. Gone is the delightful hysteria fueled by lyric barking and effervescent rock antics. The fuzzed-out, psychedelic-drenched sound of their new record, with its echoes of everything from Japanese dronesters Ghost to the affable Deerhoof, fails to inspire butts off chairs or ears to perk up. Buyers beware: fans of Numbers needn’t count on this one.
Back in the day, Numbers were a prime dance-party band, alongside erst-Tigerbeat6 labelmates Erase Errata and Kid 606. But the ushering of their Kill Rock Stars era, which began with 2005’s We’re Animals, changed this to stifling effect. Now You Are This is a portrait of the Numbers kids all grown up, a logical progression from the direction of We’re Animals. But, quite frankly, it’s just boring.
Drummer-singer Indra Dunis’s staccato shouting, often in gleeful cacophony with guitarist Dave Broekema’s and keyboardist Eric Landmark’s own pipes, is sorely missed here, and the band’s whimsical, jangly energy has been replaced by an introspective yet banal brand of indie rock. Things do pick up occasionally, as with the sprightly tracks “Everything is Fine” and “The Mapping of E8,” but they’re far from redemptive. “What happened to you? What happened to me?” the album’s closer asks. Maybe they already know. Numbers’ party is over, at least for the time being.
Issue #25
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