With a love of horror movies noted as influencing his early Animal Collective days, David Michael Portner, formally known as Avey Tare, has allowed that personal aspect to spread to everything from the name of his new bands debut record as well as the name of the band itself. Formed alongside Jeremy Hyman of Ponytail fame as well as Angel Deradoorian who is associated with Dirty Projectors, Avery Tare’s Slasher Flicks is not a band to be seen as a minor side-project, despite the fact the various members remain committed to other groups. However, it is an act which is clearly still in its fledgling stages, both compositionally and chronologically. Ambition and creativity exist in masses; what is missing is a strong sense of identity and purpose.
The first track I came across by the band was the single “Little Fang,” released about a month ago and subsequently igniting an interest in the outfit. Its warped sense of endearment and spooky aesthetics is paralleled by its wonderfully off-kilter video, which features a puppet-cat driving (!) to a carnival and making shapes with a crowd dressed in clown costumes. The more simple psych-pop structure to the track as opposed to most Avey Tare compositions, in Animal Collective or solo, is worked perfectly to create a sense of familiarity with the song, while still retaining the uniquely liberal nature of an Avey Tare track. The topic of the lyrics celebrating one’s own quirks and special gifts is hence rather fitting, one such line to pull out ‘And if it ever starts to feel bad Little Fang/It’s easy to explain cuz this world’s not tame.’ It’s a beautifully catchy and sincere number, enticing in its vocals and jangly guitar line to match.
The overriding sense of performance to be extracted from “Little Fang,” exhibited in its dramatic and almost comical instrumentation and vocals, is what translates best on Enter The Slasher House as a whole. The inclusion of Deradoorian on backing vocals contributes a more playful dynamic, and her appearance is again a notable addition on “Catchy (Was Contagious),” a highlight on one of the record’s strongest and most interesting tracks. Unfortunately she is not involved as often as she deserves, as when is her performance contrasts beautifully with Avey Tare’s harsher yelps. The fluid instrumentals on “Duplex Twin” similarly express a notion of eccentric pleasure clearly involved in the making of the song, its infectious grooves deliciously contagious in their execution. The waves of warm synths riding through “Modern Days E” confidently engage in a delightful three and a half minutes, typifying the effortless joy the band are capable of injecting into their music. The ability to manage the balance of composing tracks which are both accessible, but revel in their more left-of-centre psychedelic sensibilities is here presented with panache, resulting in an eerily charming experience.
Unfortunately for Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, these moments of sonic clarity are too few, leaving the album as a whole feeling a little underwhelming. The colourful instrumentation and quirky vocals are quashed at times by a lack of apparent trajectory, with the band indulging too much in a specific refrain and never seeming to properly take off with any authority. “Strange Colores” is such a track which, despite its attempt at existing as a funky dance number, sounds more like a track WHAM! might have written during a night on a variety of hallucinogens. It’s isn’t totally unattractive, but lacks the addictive solution of psychedelic menace and joy found on other tracks, leaving instead a rather insipid aftertaste. “Blind Babe” is easily the least successful song on the album, diluted in a rare show of ugly vocals and an offensively annoying drum section in the verses. The production on this track is less than desirable, with the swirls of sound which at times has such a powerful cumulative effect here pronouncing a feeling of being considerably overdone. The chorus picks up with a far better showing, but as a song it exhibits a weak representation of the qualities the band possess.
Elsewhere there are moments which nearly work on Enter The Slasher House, but lack the refinement required to promote them to anything particularly memorable. Opener “A Sender” threatens to develop into the ultimate immersive experience, full of various fades and snippets of electronics, but ends up expressing the extended indulgence and lack of drive found on MGMT’s self-titled release late last year. “Roses On The Window” is again a slow burner, the longest found on the record standing at six minutes and forty three seconds. It represents Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks at their most obviously psychedelic, brimming with flavoursome reverb and several changes of pace to keep things ticking over. The problem is, none of the instrumentation or vocal sections warrant the length of the track, resulting in the feeling the band are just going round and round in circles. Lack of ambition or creativity is certainly not an issue; it’s just sometimes Avey Tare and co. are unable to hit upon that killer hook or melody to pick the songs above an existence of neutrality.
In an interview with Stereogum, Avey Tare explained how the band decided not to use too many overdubs as they felt there was already enough going on in the tracks. On this he was certainly correct; each song on the album is full of life and espouses a vibrant existence. On too many occasions however, what’s going on isn’t gripping enough in its conception, despite the dedication to its execution. It’s unfortunate, as the ideas bouncing around Enter The Slasher House are refreshing in their creativity and unique take on catchy psychedelic music, which is typical of an Avey Tare project. Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks is still in its fledgling stages of its evolution however, and even if the final product this time falls short, its intentions could lead to some exciting releases in the future.
Rating: 3/5