Household— Items LP
- Catalog No.
- KNIFE018
- Released
- November 15, 2011
- Edition
- 500 copies
- Tracklist
-
- Go Away
- Never After
- Wave Goodbye
- Phases
- Why Baby
- Our Song
- Desperate Times
- Shreds
- Cold Hands
Items, the debut from Brooklyn's HOUSEHOLD, is 9 songs of taut,infectious, post-punk meets pop perfection. The band combines the aesthetics of UK DIY and the heyday of the American indie underground, sharpening them to a point and bringing to mind bands such as Young Marble Giants, Slant 6, and contemporaries Grass Widow.
"Brooklyn post-punk trio Household has all the taut, jittery rhythmic propulsion of vintage art-pulsers like LiLiPUT and Delta 5, but the band adds a gorgeous, infectious layer of minor-key harmonies taken from the first wave of '90s twee.....the sardonic Items, an album of two-minute ragers where pop melodies float determinedly over jagged rhythms and clipped, strangled guitars...Opening track "Go Away" is blocky and brittle, playing like spiraling twee-pop bubblegum after spending a semester at the Gang Of Four school of rock."
--Village Voice / Christopher Weingarten
THIS IS A PRE-ORDER. Orders will ship as soon as they arrive from the manufacturer. ETA: End of October.
Reviews
-
No longer just my favorite Ikea section, Household is a band, and Items is their debut LP. Dull Knife has become one of those labels you can take a chance on, just based on their track record, as there’s always a level of quality upheld among artists both familiar and strange. Pretty sure Household doesn’t have a booming fanbase, but with this album, I’d expect that to change – they play a pretty catchy, distinct style of hushed punk rock and it’s really great. I’m picturing Young Marble Giants with less artistic aspirations, or Yellow Fever with beers instead of juice boxes in their practice space, or a normal punk band that grew up rehearsing in a library. Very bare-bones, not a distortion pedal in sight, and Household make it work, embracing their minimal setup and delivering Items with a clear recording (no “let’s hide behind a cloud of lo-fi” tackiness here). Even as Items feels pretty homogenous at times, specific songs reveal themselves over repeated listens, and this is a record that demands repeated listens anyway, so there you go. Thumbs up!
