In the Reptile House
Label: SAF
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: In the Reptile House
It’s easy to get lost in electronica. The blips and slick textures can be cold and faceless in certain artists’ hands, and that can become a great comfort zone for the rock star’impaired. Hometown Casio maestros Yip-Yip ‘ aptly named after Sesame Street aliens ‘ employ every weapon in a neurotic’s arsenal to throw listeners off their scent, from costumed performances to cleverer-than-thou song titles (‘Slime Shuns Sun Shineâ?�) to the incessant boing-bong of second-gen gaming consoles. Yip-Yip spends half of a tightly spaced album afraid to sonically speak or even to approach expression of any kind. Tracks like the nervous ‘California Fartâ?� change melodies midsong, before they’re established, and the hyperactive ‘Superfeetâ?� would kill for a good foundation to leap from. The Winter Park duo, however, reward patience bountifully with ‘Rath Chan: Axe.Jamm.â?� The bold backbeat casts off the jitters of its predecessors and skips confidently across its jagged atmosphere. Finally Yip-Yip find their communicative bearings and the remaining half runs with the momentum, especially the polished, club-ready ’24 Tubes.â?� The Yip-Yips of our youth spoke to telephones, believing them to be cows, but they never stopped expressing themselves, no matter the meaning. When electronica remembers this maxim, it tends to find its way again.
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2006.