White Fence – Family Perfume Vol. 2 (2012) [Woodsist] // Grade: C-
I’m not seeing it folks, the current, seemingly godsend deal with White Fence. Sure, that may be a bit of overstatement, but when the bloggers talk, sirens get wailing. I get the prolific part and the fact that the brainchild of Tim Presley splits his time between multiple bands (The Fall, Strange Boys) and has a rooted history with others (The Nerve Agents, Darker My Love) but as I safely balked at the first volume of Presley’s 29-song, two-album set, Family Perfume, it makes a bit of sense that the continuation of the Bay Area musician’s wobbly DIY project again falls below my mark. Released for the Woodist imprint, Presley’s second offering is, in so many words an easy-moving hunk. It’s unsteady, unfiltered, nonsensical and swirling, but at moments, par-blooms in thinned-out 60s psych pop fuzz and blithe, acoustic, country/folk gazers perfect for the afternoon laze. Smeared in DIY recording character, White Fence channel a slew of retro rangers’ skeletal form but with a lackluster body-painting of weirdo instrument appearances, tape loops, druggy haze and layered multi tracks, Family Perfume Vol. 2, even more so than its predecessor, still comes out incomplete and thin.
A look at some of the set’s 15 songs proves supportive: By the time opener “Groundskeeper Rag (Man’s Man)” gets good, percussion ramping, it just ends, like a stop button at the 1:26, “Be at Home” is a multi-layered, multi-vocal, galactic wander with sloppy, laser sounds and a line about “washing underwear in the sink” and at “Lizard’s First,” Presley’s “What’s the blues without the green” line rules whereas, the coin flips and talk about “potato trees” wafts through. Those blooming moments though, exist as well: “Makers” is a drowsy and cool tale tackling addiction, closer “King of the Decade” has its moments, “Anna” succeeds in its weirdo Leonard Cohen form and though lethargic, “I’d Sing” proves key in its arrival early on. It’s funny then, to mention the fact that through all the wonky, lo-fi noodling White Fence can produce, my early thoughts above land close to where its maker may have anticipated.
In a recent interview with Impose, Presley was asked about his so-far prolific year (there’s White Fence, the Ty Segall collaboration Hair and touring with the Strange Boys if you forgot) and his mounting song output. Responding bluntly, Presley told the outlet: “First, I’m sorry for dumping all that music. But I had to do it. I chopped it down and chopped it down and it’s still really long…But I can see how as a reviewer, both those records, you might be frustrated.” No stranger to his own hustle, as frank a response was not what I expected, though he almost summed it up for me. Presley may have given my ears an unneeded workout of sorts fishing for depth or drooping my eyes more than they needed to be during 1pm listens across White Fence’s vague, cloudy footing, his assumption for frustration is definitely off- the last time I was close to typing near that level of annoyance on these Bloglin pages was the steaming pile of grandiose confusion that was Loutallica’s Lulu and I can assure you, Vol. 2 may be off-the-cuff, long and somewhat oblong, it’s certainly not that bad.
