Album Review

‘Indie‘ has become so nebulous a term that it means next to nothing anymore, but in the case of the very-coolly-named History Invades (and most of their Lujo labelmates), it‘s an apt descriptor. This is a weird, likable presentation of HI‘s off-kilter, angular melodies, and admittedly, it took a few spins to sink into my skull, where it‘s since staked a claim as genuinely ‘unique‘. The ten songs sometimes seem realy random, but everything remains under control - a reflection of the album‘s title? Perhaps. Great song titles like ‘We Ran Out Of Bridges So We Burned Down Our Houses‘, ‘Here Comes The Smart Patrol‘ and ‘I Am The CEO Of Mcdonnell-Douglas‘ allude to the indie-dancey smarts this band has in spades; they know how to craft a sharp slice of lo-fi rock and roll under an overarching, repeated tagline like "make room for computer know-how" or "it‘s all so obvious now", sung in a wry, been-there-done-that tone that makes the listener feel like they‘re in on whatever joke is going on.

History Invades often come off as a schizophrenic-type band, here laying down a big ol‘ bombastic rock hook, there coming up with a trippy, glitchy beat. These songs, produced by legendary Starflyer 59 founder Jason Martin, fit into any of the indie/dancey/shoegazer categories you might want to stick them in, and in their sheer catchiness they‘ve avoided the ‘boring‘ tag so much of the current indie crop gets. Bonus points for the abstract, though-provoking artwork, and some of the guest players are impressive: producer Martin, Lujo label prez Erik Aucoin and former Prayer Chain guitarist Andrew Prickett. Overall, a winner.

[historyinvades.com] [Lujo Records]

- Mike Postma

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