REVIEW: Ultrababyfat, Silver Tones Smile (Velvel)
- Christina Apeles
I was a bit skeptical of this release after viewing the less desirable artwork, which isn't fair, but then I listened to Silver Tones Smile and even if I could get over the cover of the album, the music couldn't keep me interested. Just as I would've passed over the release in the stacks at a music store just due to its packaging, I wouldn't have given Ultrababyfat a second thought if I heard their song on the radio.
Within fifteen seconds of the opening track "Trick," one band came to mind: Veruca Salt. This release consists of quirky melodies, girly concerns, and mostly nondescript pop rock. The vocals of founding members, Shonali Bhowmik and Michelle DuBois, were raspy at times with harmonized out of key choruses, but without the aggressive punch of female-headed rock bands like Sleater-Kinney or raw charm of the Breeders/Amps.
Ultrababyfat is close to the Amps in terms of musicality on "Stupid" and "Bent On," meaning simple guitar chords with plenty of distortion, but lacking the highs and lows in the vocals or timely breaks in the music, that makes the Amps worth listening to -- being creative within limits. On "TCBA," Ultrababyfat did hook me with their opening "Doot, doot, doot's," groovy bass line and lively drumming, with poppy vocals layered on top of one another, but that was the only song in that genre. This is a vocal-heavy release and if you don't like their voices in the first song, it's likely you won't be able to stand listening to their rants in the tracks that followed. Such was the case with me, where I could never really get into Bhowmik and DuBois' singing, and the music rarely offering much relief, without any quality guitar solos or long intros for me just to appreciate the sounds of Ultrababyfat sans vocals.
