DECOY MUSIC: Review
Decoy Music review’s Native’s new album Wrestling Moves
“If at first Native just sound like a bunch of young musicians too eager to twiddle their guitars aimlessly behind senseless yelling, listen harder and then listen again. The Indiana band’s latest, Wrestling Moves, is quite the journey to get into, but once its 90’s post hardcore-cum-instrumental passages style sinks in, you’ll be lucky to escape from its grasp. Pretty impressive for a band that formed in 2007, huh? It’ll be even more impressive – and this I’m sure of - when it turns out the album is one of the best things 2010 will hear.”
Wrestling Moves recalls brand names like At The Drive-In and Fugazi, but thankfully never opts for the lazy route by simply paying tribute to their predecessors. From the ferocity of “Ponyboy” to the oscillating riffs in “Marco Polo” to the shouted vocals and deliciously technical drumming that lace their way through the album, Native show off energy that is wholly unique and mesmerizing. Try not to get addicted when Bobby Markos proclaims, “Rise! Take thanks for creation / We side with those who are humble,” on “Shirts and Skins.” Good luck with that.
The lyrics are something to write home about, too. Despite what the dusty, dreary color scheme of the album art may lead you to believe, what Markos shouts is actually bright, intricate and exciting. “From winter to summer the climates like costumes / We paint them depending on spirit / With calmness we push on revealing the boldness we’ve disguised with blankets of distrust,” he rasps on “Backseat Crew.” On “Members List,” he chatters about nostalgia in language you would expect to find framed on someone’s wall: “The years slow and run out / We grasp for a last night where days are remembered / Ruins collected like trinkets will hang calmly from mantles.” And then there are hints of pretentiousness – what in the world is “Rip off the fake nails and follow the tracks of deer up ahead” supposed to mean? – but it doesn’t distract much from the surrounding beauty.
Still the most intriguing part lies with the instrumental dilly dallies. The first sans-vocals track, “Mason Jars,” only clocks in at around a minute, but the longer “Pocket Jingle” and “Marco Polo” aptly make up for it. While “Marco Polo” features a few vocal lines towards its end, the 3 are similar in sound, showcasing a less abrasive side of Native that is every bit as satisfying. The tracks make you thankful there are still bands writing guitar lines this elaborate.
Despite only being around 2 years old, Native sound like grizzled scene veterans on closer “Wrestling Moves,” expounding on their experience being a band: “From basement to basement attention’s neglected / Thoughts of livings based solely on incomes from hunting our interest are discussed / All for one agreed cause / Nothing can change the former.” It doesn’t seem out of place at all, though, because the entirety of Wrestling Moves is proof that Native are mature beyond their years. And even though the album already looks like it’ll contend for 2010’s end of the year lists, it’s more exciting still to speculate about the band’s future – one that has potential that hovers close to the word “infinite.”
—Matthew Tsai
