Excepter "Sunbomber"

Listen To: "Dawn Patrol

Summer means a lot of things-vacations, new friends, trips, relaxation. But there’s one thing you can’t escape: the HEAT. Yeah, it’s kind of obvious, but the climate of summer is definitely an influence on society. What better way to document these things than by setting your experience to song? For their new EP Sunbomber, that’s exactly what New York experimental band Excepter did. This five-song EP was recorded on one hot July day in New York, and damn if they didn’t do a great job of capturing the mood and the feel of the atmosphere.

Through the five songs, the band warbles and drones and seemingly captures the vibe of New York City in the summer. It’s not exactly “noise,” but it’s something quite “ambient” in nature. The tones on “One More Try” are shimmering and warm and wobbly, not unlike the steam of a hot city street. On “Second Chances,” you hear their reinterpretation of a busy, traffic-filled street, full of gridlock and honking horns. But don’t think that all of Sunbomber is abstract; through “Bridge Traffic” and “Dawn Patrol” runs a sexy, seductive funk beat, the sound of the heartbeat of life in an urban wasteland. Think the sleazy side of Miami at night and you’re on the right track. (It’s not too hard of a stretch to say that those two songs, if edited a bit, would work as great incidental music for CSI: Miami.) The final track, the nine-minute title song, is a woozy, weird psychedelic jam epic, and though the woozy vocals are slightly irritating, it’s nonetheless quite captivating.

Some might wrongfully peg Excepter as making noise, but there’s definitely more to them than that. Sunbomber is, in its own way, an odd slice-of-life, a snapshot of a summer’s day.

--Joseph Kyle

Artist Website: http://www.excepter.com
Label Website: http://www.5rc.com