Sure, the band name alone is already crazy, but it is perfectly apt for their confusing, eclectic sounds. (They are not from Akron, nor are the band members related.) I truly came to appreciate never knowing what was going to happen next, which is a valuable characteristic in any performer. A touchstone might be Of Montreal, in the sense that one song could be a disco party and the next a tender acoustic ballad, and also the vocals occasionally occupy similar registers. One might also recall Architecture in Helsinki, wherein sometimes it is folksy whispering and other times it sounds like EMF was reborn, then later tossed in a shredder. A more obscure comparison might be made to Gorch Fock or other large, collective bands, maybe even The Polyphonic Spree. There's a slight cult-like feeling to the whole thing, like it's a rag-tag collective where no idea is ever rejected, and most of the absurdist works are imbued with a sort of cosmic positivity. Listening to it all without knowing a single thing about the band, I couldn't tell if the cult had a leader or not. It did sometimes seem like someone different was singing. As it turns out, it is a collective (albeit a small one), described as the center of a social scene in their original home of Brooklyn, but the members are (at least) three different people who all play different roles, and different instruments, and all sing.
Things start off simply enough with songs that appear to be sparse, acoustic, folk ballads. Delicate noises and bleeps in the first album's first song give hints of the madness to come. Some songs proceed in reverse, beginning in a wash of noise that deteriorates to a simple little song. This self-titled debut in 2005 is a bit more subdued than later work, but there are moments of brilliant sheer noise and poly-rhythmic banging. Only the multi-part "Italy" tops eight minutes, but the other songs are relatively concise, although there are plenty of them (fourteen very different songs on the album). Somebody probably called it neo-folk at the time. It's good, but it's going to be great when these guys get into a proper studio, instead of just offering a somewhat random collection of various home recordings. However, instead of recording a proper album of their own, next they decide to be the opening/backing band for another band called, Angels of Light. In 2005, they record an album together. Akron/Family and Angels of Light is occasionally just as spacey as their debut, but with an appreciably fuller sound. The genre schizophrenia that will develop into their hallmark is becoming more prominent without peaking yet, as they continue to swing from gentle ballads to aggressive funk, with newer forays into glitzy rock and electronica soundscapes. These shifts happen across the album or even within a single song, and the experience is refreshingly jarring. It takes awhile to get to know a track, so it can remain surprising even after multiple listenings. The Angels of Light singer's deep voice and lyrical approach evokes Lou Reed, and the slightly more traditional full-band backing makes the album among their most song-oriented. The 70s fuzz guitar and California-country all work together nicely, sometimes calling to mind The Byrds (perhaps even deliberately on "I Pity the Poor Immigrant"), but also reminding me deeply of another treasured band like this, Beachwood Sparks.
There's a brief, semi-official live album available that aptly begins with random screaming. It's pretty much all just one big noise jam. The spoken-word bit manages to includes my favorite line from William Blake, who they call "the most psychedelic man of the 18th century": 'Those who restrain desire do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained.' They emerge from the chaos to play a loose two-minute version of "Moment" from the previous album and then the show is all over.
Things really start taking off on the Meek Warrior album from 2006. It begins hard with that 70s rock influence again but then devolves into their best noise rock yet. The album ping-pongs between that racket and gentle folk. While they manage to reel it in (relatively) on most of the brief tracks, only the opening "Blessing Force" and penultimate song "The Rider (Dolphin Song)" approach ten-minutes--and those are the best two songs by far. The later is a fantastic freak-out that approaches Spiritualized-levels of overwhelming noise. It's amazing how much the other songs achieve in their briefness. Climactic group screaming is something of an hallmark, emphasizing the cult-like aspect of the band. In same way, this album, while good, is a staging ground for the full-on assault that takes place during their golden era next.
Love is Simple from 2007 is an incredible, expansive album with some real stunning moments. Even at the time, it was very well received for its effective experimentation and exuberance. The band is widely quoted as calling this "the completion of the first cycle...both a love letter to the past and launching a pad into the future. And in a way not before captured, this record has the unmistakable field holler of friendship and brotherhood." Yes! Absolutely. Especially the part about the field hollering. One of their new instruments on this album seems to be some sort of tribe or chorus of (mostly?) women that the band employs to great effect throughout the album, no more so than on the epic second track, "Ed is a Portal." It emerges from chaotic clapping and shouting then builds to a tribal fury, yet makes space for a a placid folksy moment before slamming back again, and then making a final, brief twist into electronica. "Ed is a Portal" could be the quintessential Akron/Family song. If you listen to only one song from them make it this one. Give it your time now; it's worth it.
I am unsure what the relations is between this song and an independent sci-fi movie of the same name that comes out years later in 2013. The subject of the maddening lyrics was already confusing enough. "There's So Many Colors" again uses the wild chorus, and all it's crazy-weird harmonies, to disturbing great effect. Is this their best album? In some ways it is the best produced and hardest rocking so far, but it also the most daring they ever get. The next album continues with more greatness though.
I suspect normal people might select 2009's Set'em Wild, Set'em Free as "the best" Akron/Family, but then again normal people would not be listening to any of this. "River" is on this album, and it seems to be a song with some crossover (to normalcy?) success. It's no norm-core song, but it has a regular structure and regular-song, non-insane lyrics. It's not my favorite song of theirs, and it's weird that it has a bit of reggae vibe- why not?! At 4:45 it's not exactly a tight pop gem, but it ends simply well before getting a chance to go completely off the rails. It even gets released as its own single, as does "Everyone is Guilty," and I prefer the frenetic energy of that album-opening track, or the lengthy space-out of "Gravelly Mountains on the Moon." Apparently "The Alps and their Orange Evergreen" is also a frequently downloaded/streamed song of theirs, and I don't get why: it's a little folk number that never gets nuts. Overall, the album is another great one, and it was the one that first introduced me to the band. I might not be the only one.
The absurdly titled next album of theirs is S/T III: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinu TNT. There's a lot going on there, but I'm concerned that this is neither their third album nor is it self-titled! There are plenty of expansive tracks on here, but most clock-in at less than 5-minutes; even the spacey closing track "Creator" ends well before wearing out its welcome. "So It Goes," in a throwback to the previous album, is a tight indie-rock song that is as normal as these guys get, yet still delightful and weird despite its impressive conciseness. There's even an official video, but in typical Akron/Family antics, it is crazily amateurish and meta-textual (and actually begins with the song that precedes it on the album). If we give these artist our money it's definitely not being blown on big-budget videos. The influence of The White Album has become impossible to ignore on this album and the last one, but we have one last diversion into even deeper madness before their final studio album.
There's a truly madcap remix album. Let me ask you a non-rhetorical question: if you just held down the fast-forward button while playing a song on CD, is that a remix? These songs go way off the deep end with some truly challenging listening, but I occasionally wanted to hear even these sheets of fuzz and noise.
Their last album is truly great. While I might not adore it directly as much as Love is Simple, I can picture this album on the pile of jazz and classical CDs I plan to never get rid of because I can't imagine a future without them. I mean if I had a hard copy of the album. Sub Verses, their sixth and final album, was released in 2003. It doesn't sound like it came out over 15 years ago. AllMusic called it "disciplined," and I must agree. I thought of it as more mature, myself, but not in a bad way. See, for example, the soul-searching lyrics of "Until the Morning":
"How you carried all that grief
I know it wasn't right to saddle you with mine
My life, my identity I lay them at your feet
And stand here broken in the mirror of your eyes
'Til the morning..."
There seems to be a world of difference between working stuff out in deep lyrics here versus the cosmic madness of the early lyrics. They really have evolved on this final culmination of an album, sonically and lyrically. The irony is that the evolution is accomplished with a slightly more traditional instrumentation, but they manage to achieve the same expansiveness with mostly guitar, bass, and drums. It has a deeper, fuller sound that recalls more-developed Krautrock. The songs may not be as quirky and attention-getting, but they are rewarding after repeated listens, and perhaps less gimmicky than prior albums. It's a great album I thoroughly enjoyed, but I am somewhat uncomfortable recommending it at a starting point to those who haven't taken the full Akron/Family journey. Those folks should start at Set'em Wild, then go back to Love is Simple, and end up here.
How did I come across this band to begin with? For years, the only song in my regular rotation was "Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship Version)" from Set E'm Wild. And the only reason that song got listened to was because the free-form jazz-horn freak-out at the end distills into a lovely version of "Auld Lang Syne," so it ended up on my New Years Eve playlist. That album, I got from my neighbor. He worked in radio, and in the early-2000s we had an ambitious plan to regularly exchange great albums with one another, with them randomly showing up in our mailboxes. The project didn't last long, but it had some real winners. Like everybody else I come in contact with, my neighbor probably knew I was obsessed with Spiritualized; I think an album I gave him was Super Fury Animals' Rings Around the World. The Spiritualized connection is clearly and enormously appreciated: how come nobody else who knew I liked Spiritualized ever told me about Akron/Family!? It seems like a grave oversight that I'm not sure I've ever seen them mentioned together, and they should be. Both bands are adept at moving in and out of beautiful chaos; both have gorgeous melodies and a spiritual vein. Also like Spiritualized, this band makes a lot more sense when listened to an album at a time. It is far less frenetic and nonsensical than when a single song shows up isolated on random. Context is important, and Akron/Family have multiple great full albums of context.
The less said about their minor disputes with hardcore bands the better.
Finally, here's a no-explanation-offered bonus video of them doing "Ed is a Portal" live. Pretty incredible. Are they playing in the crowd or are those people part of the act?! I wish I had caught their live show when I had the chance. Although the band no longer seems to be active, their social media feeds feature tons of solo shows and collaborations from Akron/Family's hyper-productive members.
This picture of them at SXSW in 2009 seems apt to close on.
