His Name Is Alive reviewed
His Name Is Alive
Xmmer
(Silver Mountain)
A record deal with 4AD used to mean something, almost as if you could record by fiat. You could do anything, people would respect it, and if the relationship ended it was because 4AD were selling out and not you.
Appearing: Thursday, October 25th at Schubas in Chicago.
His Name Is Alive didn’t anticipate 4AD selling to Beggars Group, and with heightened expectations the group faltered and went out on its ass. From hardship comes inspiration, however, and for the second year in a row HNIA are reborn. Once fitting ethereally under the dream pop umbrella, last year’s Detrola and the new Xmmer don’t take so kindly to categorization. The band are still Warren Defever and his female vocalist du jour Andy FM (Andrea Francesca Morici), but the game is clearly different. You can still pick your spots to rest to (“Intra Ultra”), though prepare for disruptions. “Put It In Your Mind” channels a subdued Polly Harvey, “What Color Was The Blood” is analog Chemical Brothers, while “Come To Me” and “Go To Hell Mountain” find a Sunday loll down Carnaby with The Kinks could use a little more punch. Those are nothing to say of forays into dancefloor raunch with “How Dark Is Your Dark Side” or rightly fucked-up electro on “The Wolf Put His Mouth On Me.”
— Kevin Keegan
