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Tortoise | Standards

CD, Warp

Tekst: Rick Evans

Publicatiedatum: 28 februari 2001

Some indie fans and music critics really do crack me up! When Tortoise's excellent second album, Millions Among Us Will Never Die, came out in 1996, the dubby, jazzy and ambient music had the critics falling over themselves for discovery rights. Tortoise had a highly original - now highly imitated ­ style; an approach that defied categorization. Next thing we knew, they were the epicenter of a new type of instrumental music, and the infamous, but pretty cool term (because it pissed so many people off), "post rock" was born and attached to a band that never asked for the honor. The indie hype became so big as to bring the wrath of the old guard down on Tortoise like a rabid pit bull on an innocent poodle. When their next, and really good, album came out in 1998, TNT, many similar critics fell over themselves again, but this time to deliver the oh so predictable backlash. "Unexciting" and "What's the big deal?" was most often leveled at Tortoise after being filtered through ears wanting to hear the Bad Brains or the Swans one more time! Which was a shame, because TNT achieved almost everything it set out to do musically, and some possible listeners/buyers - turned off by the backlash - probably picked up something less worthy like Toroco Rot, Trans Am or Mouse on Mars instead.
High-energy mosh pit music, or even indie, has nothing to do with Tortoise, so why expect it? Calling Tortoise boring cause it's instrumental and non-rock, is the equivalent of criticizing one of your Dad's old Cal Tjader or Jimmy Smith albums, great soft jazz not meant for the ears of an indie rock critic. Not that Tortoise is soft jazz (although, if you like Tortoise, you might like Tjader). So defining what it is, becomes the dichotomy at the core of the debate. The dichotomy is, this is revolutionary music, that doesn't sound revolutionary! It's about intricate music, not raw power chords, grungy chords, or lo-fi weirdly tuned chords. No bizarre garb. No stage antics. Not even lyrics to rally around. And this pisses off those who want another Sex Pistols or Nirvana. So, what we have is all the angry emotions surrounding how much most rock sucks anymore, and that maybe it's run it's course, and why can't we just "Kick Out The Jams" motherfuckers just one more time! Leaving Tortoise as a perfect target to fire off rounds from the self-preservation centered post-punk rock press, that doesn't want to let go of what has now become... yesterday. Tortoise spoof this predicament wonderfully with their little MC5 style star spangled banner cover. Killing the future isn't going to recreate the past. Of course Tortoise are only a part of music's future, and there still is plenty of great guitar-based music around.
That said, Tortoise never asked to be the firebrands for a new music. Which is good, because it's a two-way street, and Standards can't be considered a great album on either sides of the debate.
Oh, a little preamble here, I'm going to refer to the 10 cuts on Standards by their CD track number, cause you're going to have a hell of a time figuring out the titles of the tracks from this shitty packaging. Also, who really cares about titles of instrumental music anyway? Standards begins and ends similarly, with near rock music. Instead of creating an interesting package, this Rock and Roll bookending approach unfortunately is a little too obvious response to their anti-post-rock critics, and uses up valuable minutes on an already too short CD. The cover and title were enough to make their point. #1 is better than #10, it opens with two minutes of rudimentary feedback-laced guitar but segues into a more interesting upbeat instrumental.
Standards really begins with track #2, a terrific update to the Tortoise sound ­ a remarkable blend of burbling synth and clangy percussion, a concurrence that works extremely well. #5, is a superb track, which sounds most like the Tortoise we know and love. But, as we all should know, the best bands change and evolve. We may think we want them to stay the same, but "the music must change" otherwise it gets stale real fast. #9 is the only real dud and exemplifies Tortoise's current struggle, "where to take their sounds?" They may have radically updated music in general, but they're struggling with updating their own style. #9 is a musical non-sequitur if there ever was one, and will leave most listeners wondering just what the hell was the point of these non-interesting stops and starts. The heart of Standards is #7, seven minutes of sweet 70s style keyboard music. My vote is that this is the direction they should pursue. The rest of Standards is somewhere in the middle and results in good solid Tortoise music.
Why is it always surprising when a band puts out such a great album that you think they'll always put out great albums, and then they don't? I mean why didn't Pavement just continue to put out fantastic albums? Dumb question, I know, but it illustrates the frustration some Tortoise fans might have with Standards. Standards is good, but not great. One thing is for sure, Tortoise are still remarkable enough to hold the attention of many fans for the time being. The bottom-line is, if you don't own Tortoise's masterwork, Millions Among Us Will Never Die, get that first. And, if you love Millions, then you'll like Standards.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/tortoise/standards/152/
Meer Tortoise op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/tortoise