Luff review

Luff - Blanket Ice (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

In 2002 I obtained a copy of Sleater-Kinney’s One Beat. Free from the “mind-forg’d manacles” that are the internet, I was able to create my own perceptions of the album and it impressed me greatly. Admittedly, the record probably isn’t viewed as the most important release of that year, but it captured the heart of a young teenager. Five years later, it’s become a rarity to hear of a band or artist without being steadily force-fed information about the release in question beforehand from blogs, forums, and general internet types (with the exception of the almighty The Silent Ballet, of course). Now Luff's first full-length effort, Blanket Ice, has been released under the radar; my first perceptions of the album? I wish more blogs, forums and internet types were talking about it, simply because it’s a release that does deserve to be talked about, a lot.

Luff, who formed in 2002, have waited five years (readers who are even remotely paying attention will note this is spookily the same amount of time since “One Beat” was first released) to officially put out a solid selection of songs. The half-a-decade wait appears to be worth it, as from opener “Blanket Ice” to closer “Corresponding” there are no obvious flaws, except that they should have really included more songs. 35 minutes really isn’t enough time to show off the quartet’s fluent and loose take on predominately instrumental rock.

Sculpting sounds that resemble Mogwai and Sonic Youth overdosing on diazepam but refusing to create an ambient record, Luff raise the tempo by adding a secret mix of musical-amphetamines, in the form of Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies guitar emulation and vocals that sound like a vastly improved Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia…. Notably, in one part of the record the Youthmovies love is verging on plagiarism, with “Mississippi” sounding strikingly similar to the Oxfordians effort “The Pitch and Yaw of Satellites." Aside from these forgivable mistakes (with Luff hailing from Brooklyn, it’s unlikely they set out to mimic British fellows Youthmovies), Blanket Ice is a brilliant debut. Although the album flows effortlessly, most tracks could be singled out for their own due merits. Particular reverie should be directed towards “Rigging Slumber,” which combines an expertly timed reversed-sample with elements of K.C. Accidental guitar-neck-sliding.

I feel it’s now fair to make one evaluation about 2002; it was, retrospectively, a good year for my ever-changing relationship with music. Sleater-Kinney started my interest in alternative music and Luff are a welcome reminder of how good music can be, or at the very least, how damn good 2002 was.