Dan’l Boone – “Dan’l Boone” – [Drag City]

Naysayer   3/4/2015   12-inch, A Library

The Buzzcocks said “noise annoys”. Yes it does, especially when done well. The release from Dan’l Boone, called “Dan’l Boone”, beautifully does what the Buzzcocks said and they do it with such skill and dare I say, joy. Made up of Alexander Moskos, former AIDS Wolf guitarist, Nate Young of Wolf Eyes, Neil Michael Hagerty of Royal Trux and Howling Hex and Charles Ballas also of Howling Hex, these four guys are professionals at the abrasive, the loud sound, the squelch. This six song exploration of sound is at times almost Dada in it’s approach. For instance, a 12 note music sample was supposedly cut up into 300 different pieces and then randomly spliced back together. Interviews with the group members state a practiced randomness to the approach of making the tracks. Sounds do bounce off of one another but why does it not sound chaotic? It is, but there is a calmness to this that makes the listener appreciate the individual artist as well as the group. A collective, by all means. And what makes this meditative chaos? Guitar, bass, organ, drumming, loops, lots of loops, electronics, sound bits, muffled vocals, some clear vocals but limited. Repetition. Randomness. An assuredness to let things happen.