
Review: Naytronix – Dirty Glow
Published on October 26th, 2012 | Jonny Abrams
Naytronix is Nate Brenner, bassist for 2011 Rocksucker Album of the Year winner tUnE-yArDs, and hot damn if he hasn’t put together a startlingly original and eccentric pop record of his own with debut effort Dirty Glow.
While not as punchy, fully-formed or dripping with star quality as w h o k i l l, this collection of sonic experiments has a similar predilection for underpinning its myriad colours with funkiness, not to mention an effortlessness which suggests that a further injection of confidence could quite conceivably result in the kind of bold second LP leap that catapulted Merrill Garbus to relative stardom last year.
“Hangin Out” makes for an immediately gripping opener with its shuffly groove, breezy na na na vocables and felty, fairgroundy synths a la Matthew Friedberger, paving the way for “In the Summer” to confirm this delightful arrival with loopy, gloopy, beaming synthery over clattering, slow-staggered drums, all while weaving drippily and trippily between keys as part of its odd, ethereal funk.
Some monstrous panting casts an ominous shadow over the vocodered titular refrain of “Baby Don’t Walk Away”, a motif which trades blows with an outbreak of brass and a psychedelic Beach Boys breakdown, while “Lead the Way” could almost have come from Tame Impala’s new album, that is if it had even more acid soaked into it and was shaken up like some Boggle Martini.
“Nightmare” is suitably sinister yet way too enjoyable to be as its title suggests, acting as a successful microcosm of the album by sounding a bit like The Beach Boys stumbling into a bad neighbourhood; “Are You Ready for a Good Time” sees a disturbing sound collage give way to a quick-marching circus theme, albeit a robot circus from outer space, before funky closer “Evil Dancer” wields spazzing-out sax, jazzy electric piano, off-kilter strumming and soothing (against all the jaggedness) waves of aahhh-ing vocals; it’s delicious, confounding, and a downright treat.
In short: more, please!
Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!
Dirty Glow is out now and available at www.plugresearch.com. For more information, please visit www.naytronix.com
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