TV BUDDHAS – the golden period
(CD, Trost)
In the world of two-people
bands nothing much counts but the energy and drive they put behind their
music. This is what set e.g. Lightning Bolt, United Movement and (early) White Stripes
apart from the mediocre rest of two-people bands (and especially that breed
that plays instrumental noise rock and usually gets as boring as the third
rerun of The Golden Girls, but I am disgressing.) If a two piece band has
drive and energy, it can be great. And, in fact, this is what makes “the
golden period” by the TV Buddhas such a great record. A driving, energetic
piece of sometimes overconstructed noise rock with equal parts songwriting
and chaos in the mix to make it outstanding. Yeah, that and the band hailing
from Tel Aviv, Isreal.
Believe it or not there is a
surprisingly big “scene” of alternative music of all kinds and varieties
in the land of milk, honey and eternal warlike conflicts. That last
democratic outpost in the arabian part of the world. Check out Kauders last
release split on israel online label birdsong, if you don’t believe me.
Over the last years I have heard everything from brutal power noise to pop
ballads and heavy trash metal to epic progrock from there. I am yet to
listen to the first hip hop posse from Israel, but that is probably a
completely different story. “the golden period” being recorded in Tel
Aviv, mixed in Seattle, Washington, and mastered in Vienna, Austria, makes
it a perfect example for how the world is working today. Three continents
involved. Music is being produced and distributed on smaller scales yet
bigger dimensions. Gotta get with the program and believe it.
Back to TV Buddhas. Yes, the
irony that they are making fun of the master of the only global religion
that is not common in isreal did not evade me. I also noticed that the cover
of their CD looks like the cover of a religious book from medieval times,
with all the jewels and gold on top, yet with a mutilated rendition of
“the shocker” in the central square. (If you have never heard of “the
shocker” then google it. It is a nice internet meme, if there ever was
one.) As usual, I just don’t feel about commenting much on religion
because the concept itself goes against what I believe. If you insist: I
believe in respect and tolerance and big amps to go with distorted guitars
and heavy drums. That is my creed.
Their music itself is not in
any way “oriental” or “isrealic”, if such a thing should exist, but
as described above great goddamn noise rock. If you are looking for
something exotic to fulfill your xenophilistic desires or to show your
global mind, go and look somewhere else. (I’d recommend Sublime
Frequencies, but that is a completely different story, then.) The TV Buddhas
on the other hand rock. They compensate the limitations of drum and guitar
by a great, full sound and, of course, some overdubs. Their songs build up
from scratch and mostly work themselves in a rare kind of groove that is
unique to TV Buddhas. Just take the aptly titles song “Buddha Rock” for
instance to see what I mean. The drums do a funky 1/1 beat and the guitar
plays a soft metal riff on top.
Regarding riffage, by the way,
Mickey Triest, has evolved a very own style of playing. He’d probably give
the same answer as King Buzzo when asked about his technique:
“What technique? I just play.” But there is definitely something special
going on. It is equal parts Thurston Moore for the various kinds of noise,
Billy Childish for the reckless distortion and simplification, Kerry King for the
complexity of riffs and that guy from Mountain for the lengthiness of
riff-solos. What a crazy mix.
