With talk of repression, desire, and interpretation, Laub seem to see themselves as relating to the venerable genre known as the blues, the beau ideal for their fifth full-length album, in a productive manner, in a tradition of regulation, meaning, speech and the like. The matters which Antye Greie ruminates over during the course of the album, though, which vary from communication devices such as telephones, computers, the internet to saturation and, at last, social and political breakdown, speak to something besides. In short, Laub’ music has always been about the play of shiny surfaces and this album may be viewed as but a more mature version on this basic model. The group latches on to the blues, but it’s signature is incorporated into the duo’ own musical ethic of bleeps and post-techno rhythms, and quite apart from interpreting it in a meaningful or otherwise new manner, they show that it is but a spectral object disincarnated from all narrative. No desire, no writhing ghosts which whirl up from the depths of the unconscious – no more so than in past full-lengths, at any rate – but a work of inflections, nuances, liquidity and flux.
A piece such as ‘Tofu’ consists of heavily layered and processed ambient chords which cradle laid-back, almost neutral blues guitar riffs. Now and again, Laub use the droning sustained pitches and showers of tiny particles against the ponderous guitar passages so as to create and exploit a certain depth of field. During such moments, the electronic ingenuity shines, as the many subtle electronic rhythms and variations of texture and attack create minute fluctuations of space and mood which in turn modify the hazy harmonics emanating from the repetitive guitar lines.
The duo remains fairly dependable, however, and their tendency towards neatness means these arrangements never wholly captivate or bewitch the senses. When this primness rears its ugly head, tracks cease to be adornments and try to resurrect the blues in its natural attire, often to less than favorable results. Certainly a more refined and well-rounded statement on behalf of the German duo, the pair nevertheless sound conflicted as to how they stand with the issues of saturation and enervation which Greie takes as her points of departure.
Max Schaefer
