Cough Cool - Clausen (Not Not Fun 2011)

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Back in “the day,” it used to be quite a bit more common for rock/pop-ish ambitions and weirdo experimentalism to sit side-by-side. In our current internet radio suggestion-aggregator modern world it’s a lot simpler to hyper-divide everybody into convenient micro-genres, but fortunately there’s still some ornery sticks in those spokes. Which, in a very free association way, is part of what hits home so nicely about Cough Cool (aka the solo mappings of one Dan Svizeny): aggressive eclecticism. Sleepy daydream sunlight guitar-pop nuggets (“Stolen”) dissolve into shoegazed bedroom drum-loop sound-art sculptures (“Parting Friends”). Ragged three-chord apathy-rock sketches (“Whatever”) riff out then get tossed off for backwards-playing acoustic-string reel-to-reel tape experiments (“Special K”). Clausen unspools in the same softly schizophrenic way of the best early Sebadoh sides, scripted melody and noise research tag-teaming like wild mood swings. Pro-dubbed tapes in cases with full-color suburban Halloween J-cards schemed by Brooklyn designer du jour Bobby Houlihan. Edition of 150.- Not Not Fun