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Pyramid:
The First American
Pyramid has released the first truly great album this reviewer has had the pleasure of experiencing this year. The group suffers from no beginners mediocrity by releasing the accomplished and artistic The First American. Southern gothic revival music can easily seem laughable, in no small part due to the demeaning images most Americans have of the South and its attendant influence. By playing with such beautiful depth and range, Pyramid avoids the hazard of sounding like a carnival parody of true Southern skill. Composed of multi-instrument classical performers and led by the perfectly pitched whiskey tremolo of lead singer Steady Baker, Pyramids first album is both broad in its genre references and coherent in its musical mission. The sound and feel of The First American leads to some comparisons, most notably: the husky whispers of both Bright Eyes, and strangely, the Deftones; the ability to break down a musical arrangement and reassemble it in a junkyard a la Tom Waits or Radiohead, and the dark and dirty feel of the Southern gothic revival, courtesy of 16 Horsepower and Slim Cessnas Auto Club. But this reviewer would only mention these to give a frame of reference Pyramid is entirely its own creation. The album begins strongly with Digging to China, whose sawing strings and tinny piano conjure a hopeless and sepia-toned past, fraught with disappointment. Monster in the Canyon is not so foreboding, but quite a bit more dismal even if Baker isnt singing about heartbreak, one feels that he ought to be, if only to keep emotional pace with the beautiful lap steel. (Can a singer be anything but mournful against that sound?) The Appalachian is a whispered nightmare, the kind youre secretly thrilled to be dreaming, glad to know youll wake. Indeed, each song is beautiful subtly dark, overtly depressing, or sweetly sad. The whole release is very, very well performed, with layers of strings, guitar, piano and drumbeats that gain clarity with repeated attention. Bakers voice rarely climbs above a low moan, but when it does, one gets the feeling hes truly angry about the subject, such as on the closing refrain of Waiting for the Buffalo. This reviewer must admit his own prejudice for music that is brooding, depressing, and even disturbing. But The First American is a truly stellar release, played with skill and beauty. Listeners who enjoy any of the seeming influences on Pyramid would be highly encouraged to search out this album. It is truly a rare thing to find a band intelligent enough to create beautiful noise out of seeming dissonance; Pyramid is to be commended for creating such a powerful artistic accomplishment, both somber dirge and artistic paean to the best of Southern gothic country.
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