Article Response: Lansing-Dreiden - 'The Incomplete Triangle'

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I gotta say that the name bites. (It does not bite as hard as the United State of Electronica, though.)

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:20 (nineteen years ago) link

oh, yeah? I kinda like it

Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:21 (nineteen years ago) link

It lacks a certain Baader-Meinhoff je ne sais quoi.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:21 (nineteen years ago) link

They are kinda dandyish - which is why it makes sense to spoof the dandy style in a review - but, dammit, i love dandies! And fops!

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:24 (nineteen years ago) link

i like sob sisters too. and rogues. and charlatans.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:25 (nineteen years ago) link

Dandies and fops rule, but not if they do crap, so you better be right about them.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Kemado is my label this year. I love the Lansing-Dreiden and I lovelovelove that Fever album. They both do retro up right. For me, anyway.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:27 (nineteen years ago) link

They are way better than Interpol, Ned.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:29 (nineteen years ago) link

I even like the fact that they aren't a "real" band. Real bands are soooooooo 20th century.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:29 (nineteen years ago) link

They are way better than Interpol, Ned.

Damp farts are better than Interpol! (But your point is taken and highly approved of.) Kemado, you say? Hmm...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:30 (nineteen years ago) link

scott sweard otm as always

I would like to hear the fever album. I liked their ep.

I thought the first few songs on Incomplete Triangle sounded like the Byrds if they had the technology of today. And other songs sounded like different things.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:32 (nineteen years ago) link

I thought the first few songs on Incomplete Triangle sounded like the Byrds if they had the technology of today.

HMMM...so very late Disco Inferno, then.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:32 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, I know, but I was trying to think of popular 80's retro. I like them a lot more than the rapture too. I really only like the two good Rapture songs. The Cure one and the dancey one. But that's mostly for their production. And I like Lansing-Dreiden more than the Faint.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:33 (nineteen years ago) link

The only 80's thing I have liked more was that DMX Krew album, We Are DMX Krew. That came out before the big new new wave boom though.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:34 (nineteen years ago) link

Okay, my doubts are starting to be overcome (the Elephant 6 mention elsewhere gave me hives).

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:34 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't really know enough Elephant 6 stuff to comment. I never listened to that stuff.

Chris - DEFINITELY check out the Fever album! it might make my top ten.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:37 (nineteen years ago) link

L-D is somewhat Elephant 6-ish in the way they approach their music, form what I've read, but definitely not in relation to the way they sound.

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:42 (nineteen years ago) link

i repeat: sounds NOTHING like elephant six

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:43 (nineteen years ago) link

There is pretty much no comparision to Elephant Six except that the first three or four songs have some 60sish mod/glam tendencies. But they rock. And I don't know that an Elephant Six band has ever rocked, ever. x post

Will do my best to hear the Fever album.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:45 (nineteen years ago) link

FORM WHAT I'VE READ

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:47 (nineteen years ago) link

There is this forward-moving/chugging thing to the songs, which is nice. And, Ned, the middle part is shoegaze-y. Like maybe Swervedriver would be a good comparision.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:48 (nineteen years ago) link

LISTEN PEOPLE, THE ONLY MENTION OF ELEPHANT SIX CAME FROM DDB IN OUR DEBATE, SO I WOULD IMPLORE YOU TO STRIKE THAT COMPARISON FROM THE RECORD

kthxbye

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:48 (nineteen years ago) link

or re-read the debate for clarification

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, this record sounds exactly like MY BLOODY VALENTINE meets THE SMASHING PUMPKINS in a LIBRARY.

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh so you're saying it sucks.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, and all the dudes in the band have long flowing lustorus hair.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:51 (nineteen years ago) link

CRAPTASTIC!

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:52 (nineteen years ago) link

i wish you all would just listen to the advancing flags and glass corridor.

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

I have. Like 17 times! The tracks remind me of the Apples in Stereo's early stuff.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:54 (nineteen years ago) link

(i kid, please dont yell again)

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:55 (nineteen years ago) link

holding back caps lock

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link

I only got the promo 4 song 12" thing. It's pretty dull, and the New Order rip-off is silly, though they did it pretty well.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 10 June 2004 18:17 (nineteen years ago) link

this makes me so happy, the RECORD is fucking garbage...I'm also glad other people are hearing Elephant 6isms....


PITCHFORK OTM SHOCKAH!!!!!!!

ddb (ddb), Thursday, 10 June 2004 18:34 (nineteen years ago) link

NOBODY is hearing elephant 6isms besides you

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 18:36 (nineteen years ago) link

I have. Like 17 times! The tracks remind me of the Apples in Stereo's early stuff.
-- christhamrin (hamr004...), June 10th, 2004.


ummmm, what?

ddb (ddb), Thursday, 10 June 2004 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link

(i kid, please dont yell again)
-- christhamrin (hamr004...), June 10th, 2004. (christhamrin) (later)

dick!

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 18:51 (nineteen years ago) link

who cares...the record still sucks. And you can take solace in the fact that Pitchfork's low score will keep your roommate away.


ddb (ddb), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:06 (nineteen years ago) link

he already asked for it a while back. then i was listening to it recently and he asked what i was listening to.

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 19:08 (nineteen years ago) link

i was about to take his conceit seriously in the last sentence, and just assume jorge HAD slept with his girlfriend or something after all that. i'm joking, and don't know or care, but it bears mentioning that you can never know if exactly the whole story is being told with some of these writer guys. for they walk among us after all.
i know jorge has been in NYC since at least '97 or so. used to work with him. i like him. the record is cool, but see, i only listen to reggae.

duke teh, Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:18 (nineteen years ago) link

hey guys have you tryed new album by LA
NSING-DREIDEN? I was totally against it at first, like you might be, but i grew to love it. It is so rad. It sounds just as awesome as hotmail and it has more layers! What is not to love? Even my girlfriend loves it but she was getting fat from not dancing enough to THE NEW LANSING-DREIDEN ALBUM so one day I was in the park listening to THE NEW LANDIND-DERIDEN ALBUM on my IPOD and now I am dateing a model! Trust me, guys, it works!

Miguel Sanchez (deangulberry), Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:27 (nineteen years ago) link

Still just familiarizing myself with this album, but really, it's just startlingly good. The songwriting, the playing, the singing, the arrangements, the production.

Tim Ellison, Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:39 (nineteen years ago) link

There hasn't been any specific criticisms of the album on here or on the links people have posted on here other than they sound like so and so (and, presumably, I don't like so and so). Ott's musical criticism seems to be that they are derivative. Derivativeness is totally relative.

Tim Ellison, Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:43 (nineteen years ago) link

I like New Order, and find their New Order rip-off amusing, and accomplished/accurate, but useless. I will listen to the record more, since so many respectable people here speak highly of it.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:51 (nineteen years ago) link

Tim is otm. Whats not to like about a New Order rip off? It fits within the context of the album.

so many respectable people here speak highly of it.

Hey, I like it too.

christhamrin (christhamrin), Thursday, 10 June 2004 21:57 (nineteen years ago) link

I like a good New Order rip off-if I like the song. On first take, the songs I heard strike me the way many new bands do, just bland.

I-F/Parallax Corp did an amazing instrumental New Order rip-off, Burning Ignorance on the Autistic Sync 12", I think.

And has anyone heard of The Bridge? Credited to someone named Paul Bell? Either one of those forgotten secret New Order productions or an incredible fascimile...

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:14 (nineteen years ago) link

Hey, who you calling respectable, Dan! I dunno if the four-song thing you have is a promo for the album or if it's a seperate e.p. They HAVE an e.p. that I haven't heard.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I have the E.P. It's more consistent than the album thanks to its length, but doesn't have any standout tracks, imo.

deanomgwtf!!!p%3Fmsgid%3D4581997 (deangulberry), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:23 (nineteen years ago) link

and people who I respect also hate the album, I'm so conflicted!

Actually, even if I listen again and can be convinced it's decent to good, it's still not the kind of thing I get terribly excited about, and wouldn't have much of an opinion had the EP not been sent to me. I think it's a DJ promo sampler from the LP kind of thing, but am not sure. One part I liked the music/production etc but one there was singing and a song I lost interest.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:29 (nineteen years ago) link

people going "bonkers" about the junior boys amidst new order comparisons

people going "haters" about the lansing-dreiden album amidst new order comparisons

i like the album, but i can relate to the hate.

cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:53 (nineteen years ago) link

Too bad they couldn't get "The Lines" off the ground.

Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 10 June 2004 22:54 (nineteen years ago) link

The Eternal Lie is the one that reminds me of "Radar Love"-era Golden Earring.

scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 11 June 2004 15:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, it's got that groove. But there's also some serious unspecific New Wave melodicism in the 2nd part.

Tim Ellison, Friday, 11 June 2004 16:07 (nineteen years ago) link

Followed by that guitar solo, of course! (I'm listening to it now.)

Tim Ellison, Friday, 11 June 2004 16:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Ok so they are accused by Chris 'pitchfork' Ott of being pretentious art school wanks. Of being completly stylized w/o any substance. And now not having style.

completely stylized vs. having style. i think there's a difference. i was fairly tanked when i wrote that earlier post, though, so who knows.

lauren (laurenp), Friday, 11 June 2004 16:11 (nineteen years ago) link

That's such a great little blurb, Meltzer on Hackamore Brick. What a great writer. He's right too.

Never heard these guys but I want to, especially given its apparent divisiveness. Scott, I liked your review. For some reason reading about the first part of the album I thought of Hawkwind. Do they sound like Hawkwind?

Broheems (diamond), Friday, 11 June 2004 17:04 (nineteen years ago) link

HELL NO.

lauren (laurenp), Friday, 11 June 2004 17:28 (nineteen years ago) link

as i've posted on another one of Scott's threads, I'm seriously coming around on this record. More with every listen. There are still elements I dislike, but overall, diggin' it.

roger adultery (roger adultery), Sunday, 20 June 2004 17:53 (nineteen years ago) link

four years pass...

this is the better lansing dreiden thread. that new EP reminds me of how much i love them.

cutty, Thursday, 4 December 2008 03:14 (fifteen years ago) link

seven months pass...

On this thread I bash them for being some kind of post Interpol New Order pastiche act. On some other thread I came around on them. Now I'm listening to the Dividing Island and it's way better then most stuff ever.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:20 (fourteen years ago) link

ok, some of it is great at least.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:22 (fourteen years ago) link

as time passes - and that whole post-post-post-80's thing fades from memory - they just sound weirder and weirder to me. in a good way.

scott seward, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:25 (fourteen years ago) link

i'm still trying to remember what they remind me of...amongst al the various influences there's a specific sound to their 60s harmony vocals, on Violens as well, very medieval/baroque, like the Zombies or Herman's Hermits No Milk Today or the Left Banke?

dan selzer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:49 (fourteen years ago) link

i like lansing dreiden, and they were kinda an oddball revival 80s act around that time. Their graphic design, however, i can do without.

Francis, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 18:52 (fourteen years ago) link

they sure did love their roman numerals.

call all destroyer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 19:00 (fourteen years ago) link

Maybe I'm listening to all this stuff from start to finish for the first time but...

Firstly, I'm realizing they're not as much an 80s revival act as I had thought (and posted about above).

Secondly, I'm not digging the chugging hard rock aspects, The Advancing Flags, which seems universally praised above, I'm not feeling this track that much right now.

The further into The Incomplete Triangle I don't know... ICU is definitely what I heard on that ep and is a noble Rocca/Robie/New Order pastiche. Some of the other songs are definitely above average 80s revival but I can see why I dismissed them so quickly for it initially.

Funny thing is it's the first songs on each album, The Dividing Island and Metal On A Gun, which are about the best songs I've heard recorded in the last 10 years. I'm going to make a CD length playlist for the car.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 19:05 (fourteen years ago) link

and I do like the graphic design. It's a bit pretentious, but at least it's consistent.

dan selzer, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 19:06 (fourteen years ago) link

I've gone off Lansing-Dreiden somewhat lately, but I have listened to these two albums quite a bit, so it may partly be overkill (hopefully temporary). Also, I've been all over the place in my opinions of some of these songs and they seem pretty mood-dependent for me. The stuff at the end of Incomplete Triangle (like ICU) is still a stretch for me. I do think their best songs (which would include "Metal on a Gun," for me, as well) are some of the best music I've heard from recent years (or definitely some of the best le rock anyway). I still go back and forth on the downloadable EP they put out last year.

_Rockist__Scientist_, Wednesday, 8 July 2009 19:27 (fourteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...

Did they break up as someone claimed in a youtube comment (possibly just making unjustified assumptions)?

_Rockist__Scientist_, Thursday, 23 July 2009 21:34 (fourteen years ago) link

that's what I read, somewhere.

dan selzer, Friday, 24 July 2009 02:04 (fourteen years ago) link

were both guys masterminds behind the music or was there one mastermind? i mean, they started out as a design company, right? or makers of fashion installations or something.

scott seward, Friday, 24 July 2009 02:15 (fourteen years ago) link

I don't know but one or some of them are now Violens, who are very similar at times. From what I heard, a bit more on the 60s rock tip and less on the 80s new wave tip.

dan selzer, Friday, 24 July 2009 05:27 (fourteen years ago) link


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