Mi Ami - Watersports [Album]

Quarterstick Records

May 17, 2009, 04:29 PM

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With two-thirds of the members of Mi Ami coming from Dischord noise-rockers Black Eyes, I was expecting out-and-out abrasive noise from their new band. But this is something quite different. The two ex-Black Eyes players, guitarist/vocalist Daniel Martin-McCormick and bassist Jacob Long, are joined by drummer Damon Palermo. Previously from Washington DC, the trio are now based in San Francisco; with a name that references (in part) the sunshine state on the East coast. But their musical references go far beyond the US coastlines.

On this their first full length release, Mi Ami mix post-punk guitar-rock with Afro-dub rhythms and percussion to make a compelling record – The Pop Group and Gang of Four meet Konono No 1 at a No Wave convention. It may have echoes of African guitar, of funk, of dub but it is definitely at heart experimental rock, by turns brutal and tender, but also surprisingly accessible. The whole record was recorded mostly live with only vocal over-dubs and it shows: it has a warm, spontaneous feel.

Opening song “Echononecho” pitches you straight into the world of Mi Ami: bubbling, dubby bass, white-noise guitars, restless percussive rhythms. All this plus Daniel Martin-McCormick’s curious high-pitched squawk. When I first heard his voice I thought it was a guitar. And this is when it works best – wordless, acting like another instrument in the groove. On some songs the lyrics are not crucial – “Pressure” repeats the chant “I feel pressure” and this is all the song needs. Throughout the persistent rhythms anchor each song to create suspense and restraint which then is viciously interrupted by frenzied, distorted guitar or piercing wailing. When Martin-McCormick’s grating shriek is foregrounded too much is when it becomes overbearing.

The only slight departures to this template are “New Guitar” an angsty shredding guitar rock song and the nine minute “White Wife”, an expansive ambient-dub excursion. The Mi Ami formula when repeated over seven songs, most over the six and a half minute mark, even with slight variations might irritate some but others will find enough tension and wonder in their hypnotic grooves to be eager for more when it finishes.

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