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

so many respectable people here speak highly of it.

Hey, I like it too.

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...

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.

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

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

Dan, it's way better than that! The guitar playing is consistently PERFECT, both tone-wise and in execution, in a surprising number of styles. The songwriting, both structurally and melodically, is unbelievable.

ok, I'm ready to make an informed opinion now...

the ep has 4 songs, Glass Corridor, I.C.U., Desert Lights and The First Response.

Glass Corridor I like before the singing starts, it has an almost technicolor era Disco Inferno feel with the drum programming and guitars, but the rest I didn't like so much. I.C.U. has an arthur baker era new order feel, but the songwriting on all the songs does nothing for me.

I usually make really fast judgements on whether I like bands based on hooks and their ability to get under my skin right away. Most bands, this one included, aren't catchy enough to get past my pop radar, while the production, while intricate and obviously thought out and well-executed, sounds mostly uninspired. This is, of course, my humble opinion. I'd rank this over any number of recent bands who's music isn't nearly as interesting or ambitious, but not enough to be something I'd ever really listen to.

oh god no. jesus wept.

i've given this record the old college try more than a few times, and i really can't come to any other conclusion. i think it's terrible, a mess - a bunch of disparate, rinky-dink parts patched together. being derivative is one thing... most people are. things don't just fall from the sky without prompting. at least do it with some style and enthusiasm, and decent production.

at least do it with some style

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. Hmmm. Can they be both?

And Dan, I don't think that the songs on that E.P. give any sense of the scope of the band (though the last one you mention isn't on the album and I haven't heard it).

-- cutty (holle...), June 11th, 2004.

no.

Yes. It's f***ing unprecedented and brilliant. That song is a good example of why I don't understand criticizing them for being derivative. The melody (and harmonies on the chorus) and the vocal harmonies are New Wave, but from where? Who does this rip off?

ddb: why are you still reading this thread?

xpost

Maybe like a lost gussied up Chameleons UK track originally intended for inclusion on the Flashdance soundtrack. But I probably just made that up.

I also like the ending when the 'ominous keyboards' attemppt to hijack the song.

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.

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?

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

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.

ok, some of it is great at least.

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.

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?

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

they sure did love their roman numerals.

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.

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

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.

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

that's what I read, somewhere.

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.

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.