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The Deal: S.F. indie pop with surrealist bent.
The Good: San Franciscan Zapruder teamed up with this loose cadre of fellow pop-experimentalists (aka Zapruder's Rain of Frogs, which includes occasional members of the Decembrists and Tom Waits' bands) to create this blend of pop song-craft and left-of-center accent-ry. Produced by S.F. expat (and current local) Scott Solter, the record is an ethereal listen: most cuts, especially the gorgeous "Lucy's Handmade Paper," amble past on whirring synths and light-as-air keyboards, like floats in a surrealist's parade; others are more firmly tethered to the ground, like the nearly nine-minute "Black Wine," with its arpeggiated blues chords that echo "House of the Rising Sun." To his credit, Zapruder never really eschews his pop sensibilities, even when augmenting them with Kurt Weill-like cabaret choruses, subtle jazz elements ("Can't We Bring You Home"), or Mark Hollis-inspired textures ("South Kenosha"). Even the oddball percussion on "Bang On a Drum" and oRSo-like reeds on "White Raven" tweak the pop format in pleasurable ways.
The Bad: The playing is top-notch, there's no shortage of fecund musical ideas, and the record is, sonically, a treat. Yet, as Gertrude Stein said, "there's no there there" – as in, no center to hold things together thematically or sonically. No obvious hooks is one too-obvious answer, but more likely it's because some of the lyrics – like the record title – aim at mysterious metaphor but land like bad fridge poetry.
The Verdict: One thumb up, with the other hinting at joining but not quite feeling it.
SideCho; Release date: Nov. 18, 2008
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