Albums by this artist

Getting Into Sinking (2001)

Audiot (1999)

AM/FM

Getting Into Sinking

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» A.K. GOLD | STAFF WRITER

AM/FM Getting Into Sinking Polyvinyl, 2001 RiYL: Guided By Voices, Pulsars, Pavement

This DIY duo of Brian Sokel and Michael Parsell is quite the prolific pair. Only a year after their debut full-length, they have already churned out another batch of tracks laden with samples and fuzz. On the cleverly titled standout "If We Burned All the Assholes the Earth Would Look Like the Sun," the drumming achieves the sonic equivalent of overexposing a photograph, which somehow works and is appropriately contrasted by meandering guitar licks. Brian Hutchinson's trumpet and Drew Mills' trombone provide the necessary "oomph" to push the track from pleasant pop to ecstatic celebration a la Neutral Milk Hotel. Meanwhile, the funky, glockenspiel, sample and single keyboard note-driven "Head Gone Vertical" is a light-hearted singalong as worthy of modern rock airplay as any track by Cake.

However, most of Getting Into Sinking is less feverish and fun-loving and more worthy of a thoughtful bedroom listening session (for instance, the pretty and atmospheric "Come Suck Down A Cloud"). The songs generally refrain from extending beyond mid-tempo and make use of repeated guitar phrases as a base onto which Sokel and Parsell layer, well, pretty much everything they can get their hands on: keyboards, organs, harmonies, percussion, noise. If you are willing to wade through some less stellar tracks, AM/FM's latest offers a couple instances of transcendent, lush indie pop which hopefully is indicative of the pair's future endeavors.

A.K. GOLD | A.K. Gold lives in Washington, D.C., where she slaves away for a non-profit organization and constantly compares everything to New York City or Chicago. She's earned her "cred" as a college radio and pre-1960 country music DJ, committed indie label street teamer, sporadic zinemaker/contributor, retired mail-order filler and occasional freelance writer. From time to time, she publishes Anecdotal Evidence, a per zine that will some day be considered for the National Book Award, or possibly not. If you want to buy a copy, or desire to write to her for some other reason, email criticgirl@hotmail.com.