Erase Errata Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
Erase Errata's second album, At Crystal Palace, continues the band's ongoing flirtations with order and chaos, ping-ponging between the two with such ease that it's clear that even their most disjointed moments are under their control. Songs such as "Driving Test" and "Go to Sleep" are as angular and tense as ever -- the way Jenny Hoyston snarls "Go to sleep!" on the latter ensures a string of nights spent with eyes wide open -- but every now and then the band lets down its avant-garde and allows some melodic, and even poppy, moments to exist within its formidably sharp music. "Ca. Viewing" is one of Erase Errata's most accessible songs, at once prickly and playful. Meanwhile, "Let's Be Active c/o Club Hott" and "Surprize It's Easter" are both slightly more melodic than their earlier work; Hoyston's vocals come closer to honest-to-goodness singing than they have before, even though both songs feature strange breakdowns where most bands would put choruses. Hoyston's paranoid, soulful wailing on "Matter No Medley" marks a further expansion of the band's sound; she remains one of the most distinctive voices in underground rock, androgynous and fiercely powerful without resorting to histrionics, particularly on "Owls" and "Retreat! The Most Familiar." Hoyston's trumpet also makes a few more appearances on At Crystal Palace than it did on Other Animals, but the most musically remarkable thing about the album may be the heavy basslines that drive it. Even more so than on their previous work, here Erase Errata's music is about a groove, even if their version of a groove is closer to a zigzag. The mechanical sexuality of "Ease On Over" lies in large part to a frenetic but kinetic bottom end; ditto the danceable politics of "A Thief Detests the Criminal, Elements of the Ruling Class." If possible, At Crystal Palace feels even more urgent than Erase Errata's debut. Most of the time this is to their benefit -- witness the breathless intensity of the spiky, minute-long "Harvester" -- but occasionally, the pace feels rushed and fewer songs stand out as a result. Still, At Crystal Palace's compressed complexity makes it a more consistent album, as well as proof that the band shows no signs of slowing down or mellowing out anytime soon. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
'Other Animals'
Release Date 10/2/2001
Tracks 15
Label Troubleman Unlimited
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
As volatile and exciting a statement of purpose as you're likely to hear, Erase Errata's full-length debut, Other Animals practically cracks speakers and headphones with its nervy, smart outbursts. Songs like the brilliant "Tongue Tied" bristle with prickly attitude from all of the band's members, but Jenny Hoyston's feral vocals and trumpet playing define Erase Errata's paranoid fusion of post-punk and experimental rock (although Sara Jaffe's careening guitar lines rank a close second). Hoyston's sharply sneered singing, along with the rest of the band's music, does owe a certain debt to foremothers like the Slits, the Raincoats, and the Au Pairs -- as well as their XY counterparts, such as Gang of Four, and more overtly experimental artists like Captain Beefheart -- but Erase Errata never seem tied down by the roots of their sound. Witness "French Canadia," which begins with a brief snippet that sounds like Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" played on a toy keyboard, or the sheer energy and power that infuses and ignites virtually every track on Other Animals. The album draws the listener in by putting relatively accessible (but still powerful) songs like "Billy Mummy" and "Delivery" early in the track listing, and then gradually becomes more atonal and complex, particularly on tracks such as "C. Rex" and "Walk Don't Fly," proving that there is indeed a method to their madness. Even on the more immediate songs, Erase Errata show an impressive sense of tension and release, and of simplicity and complexity, especially on the insistent "Marathon" and "Other Animals Are #1," both of which were remixed to great effect on the Dancing Machine EP. While the untitled, instrumental interludes dilute Other Animals' formidable focus slightly, they do add to the album's subversive, righteously angry feel, best expressed by "How to Tell Yourself From a Television," which features the great lyric "We are the reason for the gated communities!" Other Animals is an invigorating, fully-realized debut that remains in a class of its own, especially when compared to some of the post-punk revivalists who followed Erase Errata into the fray. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
