Review: Big Troubles – Worry
Big Troubles - Worry (2010) [Olde English Spelling Bee] // Grade: B+
At first, Big Trouble’s debut LP, Worry, sounds like a gang of bored teenagers stomping around inside a giant tin can, furiously clanging away at guitars and drawing out the din with effects pedals. The music of Ridgewood, NJ duo Alex Craig and Ian Drennan might be a little harsh up front but an extended stay within its fold reveals warmth underneath the grind.
Lauded by fellow Ridgewood musicmaker Matthew Mondanile (Real Estate, Ducktails), Big Trouble are the newest addition to a stable of quality acts born from the suburban surroundings over the past several years. Abrasive bits edge compositions that beat with a core of lo-fi pop. The steel-toned “Modern Intimacy” is covered in bumps and scratches, a track of falling down and pining for the will to get back up again. “Slouch” buries whiny wonderings under a flowing mass of guitar and drums. It would have made a really great Wavves track, if Nathan Williams had thought of it first.
What separates Worry from the company of so many other fuzz and sunshine drenched releases is the presence of the sounds of shoegaze. The melodies are upbeat but delivered with a blissful drone that imparts a sense of melancholy, collected reminders to take the bad with the good, and to take nothing too seriously. “Freudian Slips” spits out the quaaludes of shoegaze as breathy vocals pick up pace in the company of fuzzy notes of power pop, secure in the knowledge that sad moments often quickly dissipate to happier times.
The latter half of Worry fizzles considerably with a selection of tracks (“Desire For A Certain Thing To Happen”, “Lord Composure”, “Opposites”) that lack the weight and intrigue of the release’s best moments. Still, it is a shining debut indicative of a promising future from a young act who pair grit and heart naturally.
