Attention Please
is one of two simultaneously released albums by Japan's
Boris
on the
Sargent House
imprint in 2011. The other is
Heavy Rocks
--not related to the 2002 album. It is also one of four planned full-lengths by the group during the calendar year. (The others are a collaboration with
Masami Akita
-- aka
Merzbow
-- entitled
Klatter
, and
New Album
, which mixes tracks from
and
with other new material. The latter two are available only in Japan.) Until 2008's predictable
Smile
,
was always unpredictable. One minute they would be spiraling out of control with paint-peeling guitar histrionics, while another showcased walls of feedback and distorted percussion interspersed with moments of almost total silence.
comes as a very noteworthy and distinctive album in
' large and labyrinthine catalog, whether one likes it or not. It is their first to feature vocals on all tracks by lead guitarist
Wata
. The music is nocturnal, relatively slinky, and very atmospheric. The band channels
Sonic Youth
's
Daydream Nation
in tracks like the opening title number, and the more driving, discordant overtones in
"Hope,"
while the gorgeous
"Spoon"
is a wonderfully melodic tune with an uptempo shoegaze feel.
"Les Paul Custom '86"
employs electronics, and a staccato -driven rhythm section to a jarring if danceable result.
"Party Boy"
is a chugging, four-on-the-floor guitar, bass'n'drum stepper with a razor-blade analog synth careening across the middle section. Despite its guitar squall and squelchy noise effects,
"Tokyo Wonder Land"
is a dancefloor-oriented psych anthem.
"You"
would have been at home on the more experimental side of the
4AD
imprint -- or the more accessible side of
Sub Rosa
-- in the '90s.
"Aileron"
is a brief acoustic guitar instrumental that actually appears -- differently of course -- on both albums. In sum,
, with
's haunting vocals at the fore, is the most unusual and easily approachable recording on
' shelf, if not its best. ~ Thom Jurek