Posted on: April 16, 2012 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Few bands truly break free of genre conventions. Acts that have been tagged as doing so, such as the Refused or the Arcade Fire merely expand on what is acceptable in a genre. Extra Life, from the initial No Dreams Tonight to the final cut Ten Year Teardrop, look to establish a completely new method of creating music.

Extra Life is a spin-off act from Zs / Dirty Projectors member Charlie Looker. They’ve released a number of titles since their titular 2008 debut. Dream Seeds immediately hits listeners with the aforementioned No Dreams Tonight; weighing in at five minutes, this heady composition entices listeners to stick with this LP. I believe that this is due to Looker’s vocals, which cross the border between narrative tool and instrument. By playing these roles in a simultaneous fashion, the resulting composition feels that much more coherent. Little One feels in many ways to be a diametric opposite to No Dreams Tonight. This track soars off of more concrete and down-to-earth composition. There is a more rigid order to the vocal and instrumental sides, and the track captures the back and forth well. It is this two-pronged attack that fuels Extra Life on until the end of Ten Year Teardrop. There is no sense that the band is gearing down towards the end of Dream Seeds – Blinded Beast will transform anyone that happens upon it.

Make it a point to see Extra Life live; I believe that there is a considerable element of the band that only can manifest itself in a live fashion. The title is available in CD, LP, and in MP3 / FLAC formats.

Top Tracks: No Dreams Tonight, Discipline For Edwin

Rating: 8.4/10

Extra Life – Dream Seeds (CD) / 2012 Northern Spy Records / 7 Songs / http://northern-spy.com/info/about/

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