REVIEW: Creeper Lagoon, I Become Small and Go (NICKELbag)
- Robin Lapid
San Francisco band Creeper Lagoon have already generated a strong following among locals as well as positive critical buzz. With their debut full-length album, they prove the viability of their versatile lo-fi rock. I Become Small and Go is an effortlessly stylish mishmash of music showcasing the band's ability to learn -- not pilfer -- from their influences and from them create a signature whole. Singer/guitarist Ian Sefchick possesses a melodic vocal style that can drift from a Thurston Moore to a Steve Malkmus in tune, to a Robert Pollard, full-bodied but distinctly emotive.
The album is a hi-fi version of lo-fi rock. Swirling My Bloody Valentine guitar provides the atmosphere for "Sylvia," a semi-acoustic number laced with sampled grooves and Sefchick's gentle melodies. "Drink and Drive" has a langorously experimental Beck vibe to it. "Empty Ships" begins like old-school Guided By Voices and rolls into a straight-ahead pop song, and "Dear Deadly" has a plaintive Pavement rock vibe to it -- both songs were two of the three tracks produced by the dub-happy Dust Brothers. Creeper Lagoon possess the knack for layering dubs, grooves, indie rock, and trip-pop samples into a cohesive whole. I'm glad for any opportunity to hear a band with a fine pedigree of influences *and* the ability to make these sounds their own.
