Enon Albums (4)
'Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds'
Release Date 10/9/2007
Tracks 12
Label Touch & Go
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
On Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds, Enon's first proper album since Hocus Pocus, straightforward is the new strange. The trio puts aside the pixilated, eclectic style of earlier albums for most of these songs, focusing on cranked-up rock instead. It's a pretty big change, but not an entirely unwelcome one, since sometimes Hocus Pocus and High Society teetered on the edge of becoming too precious. Sometimes, Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds' streamlined approach works wonderfully: "Mirror on You" just might be Enon's most danceable song, with seemingly endless reflections of Toko Yasuda's voice stretching out into the distance and hand claps up front. "Mr. Ratatatatat" is shouty and surreal, and "Pigeneration" proves that Yasuda's delicate voice can stand up to grinding guitars and gurgling synths. Too often, though, Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds' simpler arrangements and songwriting just don't fit the band all that well. The loose ends in Enon's songs used to be just as appealing as the hooks; here, tracks like "Dr. Freeze" and "Those Who Don't Blink" are a little too samey to rank with the band's best work. Enon allow themselves a little more room for experimentation on the album's second half, and the results are better, or at least more interesting, than what came before. "The Law of Johnny Dolittle"'s noise-saturated duet is one of the few times where the band lets loose and it makes an impact; "Paperweights" turns rumbling noise and synths that sound like whining drills into one of the album's catchiest songs, and the exotic "Labyrinth" and spooky, almost trip-hoppy "Ashish" give Yasuda perfect foils for her singing. This flurry of creativity helps redeem Grass Geysers...Carbon Clouds, and there are more than a few bright spots, but unfortunately, this is one of Enon's slightest and most uneven albums. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Arriving just over a year after the excellent High Society, Hocus Pocus is Enon's attempt to sum up where it has been on its previous albums and strike out in new directions at the same time. These contradictory impulses result in an album that's a musical tug-of-war: while many of Hocus Pocus' tracks sound like pleasant but not especially distinctive reworks of High Society songs, there are almost as many that suggest Enon is moving in some intriguing new directions. While there's nothing inherently wrong with "Spanish Boots"' good-natured indie rock or "Shave"'s atmospheric, Asian-influenced new wave, it tends to sound like slight variations on High Society's "Window Display" and the band's breakout hit "In This City," respectively. Unfortunately, this problem plagues a good portion of the album: songs like the pretty but vague "Monsoon" and the meandering "Storm the Gates" sound underdeveloped, like outtakes from High Society with all of that album's tension and weirdness removed. Hocus Pocus also suffers from some strange sequencing: most of its quieter numbers are placed near the beginning of the album and the louder tracks are dumped anticlimactically near the end. Compounding the problem is the album's somewhat subdued production, which gives an overly detached feeling to potentially powerful tracks like "Litter in the Glitter." Still, Hocus Pocus' best songs make it a difficult album to dismiss entirely; and, as with the previous album, Toko Yasuda's bright, fresh-sounding vocals are at least partly responsible for some of its most distinctive moments. "Daughter in the House of Fools" is one of Enon's best songs to date, with junkyard percussion and flitting electronics providing a bouncy, playful showcase for Yasuda's vocals. Likewise, "Mika Zuki" is equal parts beauty and whimsy, a mix of traditional Japanese music, electronica, and a bit of exotica. They're different than anything Enon has tried before, suggesting a new realm of possibilities for the band. Other Hocus Pocus tracks offer more subtle innovations: the swooningly romantic new wave duet "Candy" and the title track wander into love song territory, while the sleek, creepy "Murder Sounds" reveals a newfound flair for the dramatic. Meanwhile, songs like "The Power of Yawning" and "Starcastic" bookend the album with the immediacy and bite that is largely missing from the rest of the album. As promising as it is inconsistent, Hocus Pocus may not be Enon's strongest album, but it's still a fairly interesting one. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Enon's second album, High Society, is something of a homecoming for the band. Dave Sardy's See-Thru label issued their debut, Believo!, but for their follow-up, the group moved to Touch & Go, the home of John Schmersal's former band Brainiac, as well as that of Blonde Redhead, of whom Toko Yasuda used to be a member. Similarly, High Society sounds like a more focused combination of Brainiac's spastic geek-rock and Blonde Redhead's more delicate, poppy moments. Though they may be more focused, Enon will never be straightforward, but that's one of the band's, and album's, strengths. In the first four songs alone, High Society spans the driving, garagey rock of "Old Dominion," the weirdly brooding "Count Sheep," "In This City"'s sleek synth pop, and the jangly cuteness of "Window Display," which sounds like a cross between Preston School of Industry and Magnetic Fields. Believo! was also admirably eclectic, but High Society is both more versatile, and more successful in its versatility, than Enon's debut. A large part of this is due to the addition of Yasuda, whose voice and synths add a new dimension to the band's sound, particularly on showcases like the pretty, and pretty weird, new wave buzz of "Disposable Parts" and "Shoulder." Solid songwriting also anchors High Society's sonic trickery effectively, making it interesting decoration instead of the album's main attraction; relatively poppy tracks like "Sold!" and "Natural Disasters" sit pretty comfortably next to the wigged-out "Native Numb" and "Pleasure and Privilege," which should satisfy any Enon fans looking for a fix of Brainiac-like freakiness. Equally impressive, though, is the album's title track, which gives a playful nod in the direction of the Left Banke and the Kinks at their chamber-poppiest. Just as expansive and experimental as it is streamlined and melodic, on High Society Enon's contradictory style makes perfect sense. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Enon are a group that are truly of the transition from the 1990s to the early 2000s. They dress their eccentric pop/rock songs with the kinds of noises, samples, and bashing oddball percussion that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with the technology and mindset of even ten years prior to this release. Percussionist Rick Lee grounds (or grinds) the tracks with effects pedals, samplers, portable turntable, and crunching low-end beats. An assortment of warped sound treatments careen across the background, or even whoosh right into the foreground. As for the songs and the attitude, they're hard to get a handle on, covering as they do such a willfully eclectic sonic and emotional terrain. There's robotic electro-funk ("Biofeedback"); '70s falsetto soul as it might have sounded if it was recorded in a machine shop ("Rubber Car"); a swampy lo-fi torch song ("Cruel"); grim-reaper spookiness ("Matters Grey"); jangly, moody guitar alt pop ("Get the Letter Out," "World in a Jar"), and just plain deranged sound collages. In their technological savvy and genre-hopping, they might inspire comparisons to Olivia Tremor Control and Beck, although they're less pop-friendly than either of those acts (though not entirely devoid of melodic appeal). Interesting, but not captivating, and at 32 minutes, on the brief side.~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
