The Smiles and Frowns – The Smiles and Frowns
The Smiles and Frowns got in touch a while ago and I was so impressed that I just went and bought their album and 7″, instead of bothering to ask for a promo copy of anything. Well, sod it, I like vinyl and I have a couple of DJing assignments coming up so why the fuck not.
I don’t know what it was that attracted me to their sound so immediately. Perhaps it was that weird sensation of hearing something so absolutely familiar which has been oddly and subtly subverted. This sounds an awful lot like a certain era of the Beatles, but muffled and slight… umm… weirdified. Memory Man sounds for all the world like it’s about to break into ‘The taxman’s taken all my dough” but then, the whole record is a bit like that.
This sounds like it’s taken all your Mum’s old hits and played them through the gramophone of one of those old Avengers episodes where Diana Rigg (rrrowr!) gets trapped in a bizarre psychedelic house of mirrors full of macabre clowns and rotating black and white swirly discs and so on, and the whole thing is clearly very brightly coloured despite being in black and white. Spooky instrumental March of the Phantom Faces, right in the middle of the album, rather reinforces that impression, but the whole record has a touch of that kind of atmosphere about it.
There’s also a touch of the swoonsome French cinema-pop which inspired the likes of Cinerama and some bits of Belle & Sebastian, although I wouldn’t really compare the Smiles & Frowns to either of those bands. The track on the vinyl release, Mechanical Songs, pretty much sums it up: slowly rolling melodic refrain, unhurried delivery, slighty spooky air. It also points to how and when the album doesn’t work, for me, which is when this gentle rhythm breaks down.
There are a couple of songs on the record – Memory Man being the most obvious example – where the pace and the sounds made to carry the rhythm don’t quite match in my head. When that happens, the rhythm loses that easy smoothness, and I start to feel the thumps of the drums a little jarring – they don’t quite sit right. I don’t know if that makes sense, or if it’s just me making up nonsense to explain why I am not so keen on a couple of of songs, without really knowing why, but that’s still how I’d describe it.
It doesn’t matter, though, because as a whole I really like this album so minor quibbles aside I would certainly still recommend it. I’ll also be interested to see where they go from here, as I definitely feel there is some as-yet unfulfilled promise lurking in here as well.
The Smiles and Frowns – Sam
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I’m meeting up with the guys in San Diego this Saturday. Um, that’s about it really. They already know how much we love their work.
Yeah apparently you told them ages ago that they should send stuff through to me, but they never quite got round to it. Add that to my own general tardiness and you have a review which may be up to a year late. Never mind though, I like this.
Well…officially “Toad-ified” …thank you my good man!
I bet it’s the first one to reference The House That Jack Built (that episode of the Avengers) as well.
Hey hey hey. S,bT’s on a roll. Jaunty.
oooh, I LIKE it! But Mr. Toad, you are the one who made me want to listen to it.
Well that’s good news. That 7″ is really worth having, if you have a record player.
Well, yeah we did, a number of times, eh? Adam? Eh? See, it DOES work (pokey tongue emoticon). You just have to know how to tickle the Toadlet’s belly welly.
I second that re: the 7″. My good friend Nick Fisk went so far as to buy 2 of the limited edition versions on the basis that it might be a good investment as he feels a good future for them in the force.
the last time I tried to tickle a toad…it urinated on me… but I admit it, I am a terrible promoter and salesman, although I can sell a cupcake like the dickens..
I love this and everything I’ve heard from these two. It’s almost got that Tiny Tim weirdness to it but with an added donut truck trick
Seriously talented, wonderously silly, and so right up my alley I wish they lived on my very own street. I love the Smiles and Frowns! xoxo
I like this too, nice voice and chord changes and it’s a little bit weird so all good.
It’s one of the best fucking things you’ll hear on this or any blog for a long time, TeamTurnip, so, you know, indulge.
What I can’t get my head around is that no one has even bothered to talk about Timber Timbre – THE BEST example of this kind/genre of music to have come out in the last year. Where do you get your readers, Toad?
You mean that there aren’t that many comments on that thread? That’s always so unpredictable that I’ve given up. An awful lot of the things I really love get no comments at all, so I’ve stopped even trying to second-guess these jokers.
Matthew, I love your style and I love the Smiles and Frowns. Drunk Country, you’re cool too!
I love this album.