“This Restless Enterprise” review

http://metrospirit.com/index.php?cat=1993101070394080&ShowArticle_ID=11011111092868484read it here


Issue #21.16 :: 11/11/2009 - 11/17/2009
The Very Enterprise

“This Restless Enterprise”

BY JOSH RUFFIN

The Very Enterprise
“This Restless Enterprise”
Available soon
myspace.com/theveryfoundation


AUGUSTA, GA - It’s not a good time to be an indie rock band. Ultra-arty, ultra-hip outifts like Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear and Band of Horses have spent the last couple of years forging a monopoloid dome comprised purely of pitch-perfect, just-challenging-enough pop-rock, so much so that any other indie band, whether or not they sound like any of the aforementioned, are forced to deal with that consequence of comparison. As a result, most groups have to accept their perpetual “under the radar” status and generally deal with it by languishing as the topic of miasmal conversations during smoke breaks at a Xiu Xiu show.

Luckily, The Very Foundation decided “f*** that noise,” figured out how to rock, and released one of the year’s most acerbic, borderline misanthropic indie albums. Believe us when we tell you, this Portland-based duo is not here to give you the warm fuzzies, though the first six songs on the album—“My Sweetest Defeat” and “Run Away to Tokyo” highlights among them—are as likely to get heads nodding as they are eyes glazing. After the comparatively stark, lyric-less “Signs and Wonders,” (which sounds like a remix of the Jesu tracks off this year’s Envy split) though, is when we get cause for celebration, as tracks like “This is What We’re Asking For” and “My Angel, One Last Time” possess the most seamless fusion of vitriol and simple pop pleasure this side of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.”

Though vocalist Michael Lewis has an unfortunate tendency to sound like a less-robotic version of Interpol’s Paul Banks, he eventually finds his stride during the hushed verses of “Silk and Stilettos,” evoking something between a Bon Iver rasp and a Nick Cave sex-ooze. But let’s not get petty; this is sharp, serious, and just out-and-out spectacular stuff. Plenty of bands channel their romantic side, but rare is the group that feeds it Jager shots and slips out the next morning while it’s still in the shower. Kudos, fellas.