Quasi

American Gong (Kill Rock Stars)

By Chris R. Morgan
Published: March 11th, 2010 | 7:00am

Quasi is one of those bands (having been sewn into multiple threads of indie rock history) that find itself with the stigma of representing the most diabetic strain of twee. Such an accusation would ring painfully accurate if one was to only listen to two seconds of each song; judge the members by their previous bands; and/or read Quasi’s annoyingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

Everyone else will benefit from hearing the band's ability to craft and play a form of punk rock that is so steeped in the un-dogmatic imagination of the Pacific Northwest and informed by the maturity that comes from having played it for so long in various forms. This is no astounding revelation of course, as American Gong is simply a testament to consistency.

As is often the case, Quasi offers a basic core of straightforward rock that veers from one tone or pace or melody to another. There are those tracks based on distorted power riffs ("Repulsion," "Little White Horse," "Bye Bye Blackbird," and "Rockabilly Party") as well as those that are more sensitive, for lack of a better word (the moving "Everything & Nothing at All," the acoustic "The Jig is Up," and the somewhat lounge-infused "Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler").

You could consider American Gong something of an anti-thematic hodgepodge, but Quasi practices a kind of rock formalism that treats each song as a short story rather than as being part of an epic — though the strength of all the varieties lends to the album's coherence. If anything, the louder aspects of the record are the most affecting, taking cues of heavy riff back from bands like the Arcade Fire who seem to use it as a crutch for the superfluous orchestration. It’s likely not Quasi’s intent, but it's nice to think that it is.

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