John Foster takes music packaging very seriously. He has deconstructed the design of the recording industry through his personal work and his books, Maximum Page Design (HOW), New Masters of Poster Design (Rockport) and the upcoming For Sale: Innovative Solutions in Packaging Design (HOW) as well as a monograph of Sub Pop’s Art Director, Jeff Kleinsmith, slated for publication by the label in 2008.
He will be poking and prodding various albums on a weekly basis so please be sure to keep an eye out!
This week’s victims:
Foals “Antidotes”
Is it worth listening to no matter what it looks like? It is almost a rite of passage for a certain segment of British youth to transform from noisy muckrakers to arty dance band. The story has been told so many times that you think I would tire of it but truth be told - I never do. Aptly named for their unsteady-legged youth, Foals are the latest in a long line of bands catapulted to the top of the UK indie charts and the cover of the NME. Their skittering, angular form of punk dance touching a chord with the bastion of misunderstood youth; that just need to awkwardly shake it out a little not exactly on the dance floor but off to the side of it. Its telling to see the band in performance as you instantly notice that they all play their guitars high and jazz-like as they move about the high end of the fretboard to create the nervy energy at the forefront of their songs.
Armed with short haircuts, a no wave funk backbeat, repetitive obtuse lyrics and well placed saxophone and keys, songs like “Balloons” and “Cassius” inspire thee whitest of dance moves - the full body convulsion while never moving your feet. Also included are the singles “Hummer” and “Mathletics” as bonus tracks (you have to skip track 12 to get to them.) It’s all played with conviction and resistance is futile. Here in the US a number of bands have had similar touchstones (including a very big one right here in DC) but they didn’t have the detached artiness that Foals bring (or don’t bring as it were) to the table. In an odd way, I find that seriousness and pretentiousness to be alluring and it draws me into the music more than any self-effacing sense of humor could. It’s a British thing. I wouldn’t understand - and that’s why I so desperately want to.
Credit: “Artwork by Tinhead”
Any signs of creative interference in the design process by the artist? I can’t discern any but the band and artist/designer are clearly “mates.”
Does the look fit the sound? Definitely. The simplified (yet strange) drawing that adorns the cover (free of type) only gives a hint as to the interior via the colorful pill-filled mouth. Once inside, the messy cacophony of Tinhead’s art washes over only stopping for Dave Ma’s portrait of the band outside an amusement park on the shore as they stand inside garbage cans. The photo itself has been savaged by low tech tools, as it is scratched at and drawn on via sharpie and then blotted with white out. In fact, all of the imagery appears to have been produced via office supplies bringing a rough and unpolished fun to the proceedings. Like the band, it has high aspirations even if it is using common tools as a means to that end. And like the band, Tinhead is incredibly young and off to a magnificent start.
Final score (out of 10): 7.0 design (8.0 for the music)
