• Northwest CD: "Key Party"
Friday, July 04, 2008
SCOTT D. LEWIS
Special to The Oregonian
Oh, no. "Key Party," Portland duo Childhood Friends' third album, is too dense, disconcerting and, well, disturbed to recommend for the little ones -- and just hope they won't ask you to explain the title.
The synth-heavy 1980s retro sounds laid down by multi-instrumentalists Ilima Considine and Jake Rose reach back over two decades to such pioneering bands as the Cure, Joy Division and My Bloody Valentine. The sounds are smashed and swirled together until particular noise-makers (keys, guitars, violins) are indistinguishable and one. The chilly blend is at once dramatic and turbulent, dark and distant and a curious concoction of light industrial sounds and lofty art rock.
And then there's that voice.
Considine doesn't so much sing as much as chirps, squeaks and squalls. Her maniacal robotic screechings look back to the likes of Bjork, Siouxsie Sioux and PJ Harvey for inspiration as she sputters, spins and spits the songs' words out like a shrill, seriously disturbed little girl -- or possibly a restless junkie ghost.
Yet, it works.
Listening to the Cars-sounding opener "Used to Be Good," it's hard imagining the heart-hurt, careening song being sung in any voice other than Considine's embodiment of distressed dementia. Same story for the following "Because I Wanted To," which could have come from a frantic Toni Basil, and so on down the 10 tracks.
Decidedly indie, lo-fi and avant-garde, "Key Party" is an odd little treat that should come wrapped with a different kind of parental warning.
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