+/- "Let's Build a Fire" (Absolutely Kosher)
By Tim Den
Thursday. Dec 21, 12:20 AM
Defeats just about every other indie rock / electronica release this year.

(read an interview with guitarist/vocalist James Baluyut here)

+/-’s last album, You Are Here, has long since become the standard by which I measure all indie / electronica / rock hybrid songwriting, a no small compliment given how many bands today are trying to do this kind of thing. In the years that the band have been silent, slowly ebbing away at full-length number three, the potency of their work has only increased with relevance and reverence, building the anticipation for Let’s Build a Fire to uncomfortable heights. Personally, I only made the wait worse by visiting the band’s website and taking a peek at the video for new single “Steal the Blueprints” months before the album’s release: gentle field recording of birds, finger-picked acoustic guitar, throbbing electronic kick drum, fuzz bass, bleeps of delayed guitar notes, scattered panning of percussive accentuations, and of course vocal hooks to melt under… yup, these guys fucking slay. Even six months before Let’s Build a Fire was due to hit streets, I was ready to proclaim +/- one of the best bands on the planet yet again.

And for the most part, now that I’ve spent a good month with Let’s Build a Fire on repeat, I am ready to sing the band’s praises all over again. However, the revelatory nature of Let’s Build a Fire doesn’t quite match that of You Are Here’s… why? Perhaps cuz You Are Here was such a HUGE leap from Self-Titled Long-Playing Debut Album, that the advances made on Let’s Build a Fire from its predecessor seem smaller in comparison. Or that, simply, Let’s Build a Fire’s songs are just a tad less ingenious than those of You Are Here. Sure, “Steal the Blueprints” ranks as the album’s best by far, but that means that the others are never going top it. In fact, the likes of “Thrown into the Fire,” “Summer Dress 2 (Iodine),” and “This is All (I Have Left)” feel like leftovers from previous albums, offering the expected +/- 7/8 (or 5/4) time signature replete with crisp arpeggios. They’re not bad by any means, but it’s a bit “same ol’ same ol’.” And if the hooks were just a smidgen catchier – or more original – the songs would’ve stood out more. But as they stand, they merely pass as average.

Thankfully, others such as “Fadeout,” “One Day You’ll Be There,” “Leap Year,” and “Ignoring All the Detours” pick up much of the slack, compensating with worlds of manic syncopation, brilliant uses of silence / build up / release, and heartbreaking serenades. The opening title track also starts the proceedings beautifully, with trumpets playing a ‘20s jazz waltz crackling under Gramophone static before erupting into electric guitars. As always, +/- excel at executing their vision of organic-electronic intermingling, seamlessly replacing / mimicking samples with real instruments and vice versa, but on Let’s Build a Fire they also strip down to bare bones a few times to great results. “The Important Thing is to Love,” “Profession,” and closer “For You” are all pretty standard ballad-ish indie tunes (all written by guitarist/vocalist Patrick Ramos, coincidentally), but they prove that sometimes a great hook is all you need. Incredible control of auditory fireworks and engineering experimentation can obviously be wonderful tools to call upon, but sometimes a guitar and an honest voice is all that you need. Not that these songs are completely barren, of course: “For You,” in particular, ends the album with swells of strings, cascades of concert cymbals, and timpani rumbles accompanying Ramos’ falsetto crooning. Hardly lo-fi coffee house stuff.

As a whole, Let’s Build a Fire doesn’t disappoint and most definitely defeats just about every other indie rock / electronica release this year. But taken in the context of +/-‘s trajectory, I can’t help but feel that it could’ve been better. And by “better” I mean that it could’ve been “flawless” as opposed to just “fucking unbelievable,” which it undoubtedly is. My suggestion? Pick up both this new platter as well as You Are Here, because your ears deserve such magical compositions.
www.plusmin.us
www.absolutelykosher.com

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Tim Den

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