The Pelican’s Perch

EDIT:  A Perch Earch listen?!  Now that’s a funny typo.  That’s what happens when you’re in a hurry.  Whoops.

Neon Golden, the 2002 Notwist classic, was one of those albums I obsessed over. I remember it being in the background for the latter part of my high school days and all throughout college. I studied to it, slept to it, took road trips to it, and now still, six years later, I find myself putting it on when I read or am driving around. My love for the subtle electronic rock genre popularized by Postal Service began with that Notwist album. Long before the Postal Service came around, there was Notwist.

So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw their new album shining there amongst this year’s upcoming releases. I honestly couldn’t believe it. It’s not like they haven’t been active since Neon Golden, starting the side project 13 & God with the band Themselves, and scoring a German film called Distant Lights, but nothing new came out of the Notwist camp all those years so all I had to keep from forgetting about them was Neon Golden. Thankfully that’s not the case anymore. The Devil, You + Me follows nicely in Neon Golden’s footsteps, treading calmly and precisely through electronic rock landscapes, never getting in the way of whatever you’re doing, but still remaining intriguingly impossible to ignore. The opener “Good Lies” was a bit surprising at first, being more jangly guitar driven than electronic driven, but “Where in This World” follows with the Notwist I’ve always known and loved. One thing Notwist have always done well is blend orchestral and electronic elements effortlessly and “Where in This World” is a shining example of this. It’s reminiscent of “Off the Rails” from Neon Golden. “Gloomy Planets” has an interstellar pop quality to it and it’s one of those songs you know some trendy marketing firm will use for a Yaris car commercial as the car flies through space and flowers are blooming everywhere.

“Alphabet” is a bit more chaotic than most the songs on the album, with glitchiness, fuzz, and beats galore. The title track is one of the best on the album and is right up there with “Where in this World”. The rest of the album keeps up that subtle, calming quality all the way until the last guitar strum fades away during the great guitar and piano led “Gone, Gone, Gone”. By the time the album is finished, the silence becomes quite alarming out of nowhere when you realize the whole album came and went and even though it faded into your subconscious while you drove/read/cleaned/etc, you still find yourself quickly hitting repeat to hear the comforting sounds of the subtle driving guitar intro of “Good Lies”. Maybe that’s just what happens when I listen to this new Notwist album, but I’m guessing it’ll happen to a few of you out there. Notwist are finally back, and their follow-up that’s six years in the making is right up there with Neon Golden. That’s a pretty bold statement, but I’ll welcome The Devil, You + Me into my Notwist collection anyday. It’ll never eclipse Neon Golden, but even coming close is good enough for me.

The Devil, You + Me is released in the States in June on Domino Records and early next month in the UK through City Slang.
Notwist

The Devil, You + Me
Perch Score: 8.999

1. “Good Lies”
   
2. “Where in the World”
   
3. “Gloomy”
4. “Alphabet”
5. “The Devil, You & Me”
6. “Gravity”
7. “Sleep”
8. “On Planet Off”
9. “Boneless”
10. “Hands on Us”
11. “Gone Gone Gone”

Official Site / Myspace

Bonus song from Neon Golden:

Pick Up the Phone

Off the Rails