WFMU : Where dead air lives

Before the recent release of their summery Not Not Fun LP, Ducktails swung by the WFMU studios in the middle of a dark winter night to play a few songs for Marty McSorely. Nothing this band produces, however, is dark or wintery. The songs are a twangy wash of guitars, phasers and Casios, warm and comfortable as a hot tub, clean enough to swim in. The trio runs off a couple tracks from their new album, but also take the time to explore material done by some of the band member's side projects - their shimmering rendition of 'Let's Rock the Beach' is a fun introduction to Real Estate, another of Matthew Mondanile's current endeavors.

Tired of the strict compositional constraints (ha) of their regular catalogue, however, Ducktails also launches into an "extended jam" that lasts seven swirling minutes. It opens in signature Ducktails fashion, with a melodic guitar line wandering across a swelling milieu of synthesizers. Percussion is gradually introduced, accompanied by a series of watery sound effects and electronic birdcalls, and the tropical haze that Ducktails has learned to conjure slides into view. But there are distinct sections and a clear direction that drives the song from beginning to end, eschewing a frustrating monotony that occasionally rears its head on the LP. The Ducktails sound is described by the artists' themselves as 'vacation music in an elevator,' and while some of their songs could be so confined, the WFMU jam is more like riding an escalator up a Hawaiian volcano.