5 keepers
keeper avg .313
It's easy to see why I Can Hear was kind of a breakthrough for the band, and some of its best tracks are included nowhere else (including the career-spanning Prisoners of Love compilation). "Moby Octopad"**** is a pleasant mix of atmospheric tones and circular bass line popularized by Stereolab, and the fragile harmonies of Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, but takes a hard left turn at about 2:52 when dueling dissonant piano runs and guitar skroning take over for the vocalists, "Sugarcube"**** (included on POL) has the driving drone of a streamlined Sonic Yourth, powered home by James McNew's verse-ending bass harmonies. On "Deeper Into Movies"**** Hubley and Kaplan's vocals barely fight their way through Kaplan's Sonic Youth-like multi-guitar assault. Hubley's resigned "Shadows," the folky "Stockholm Syndrome" (on POL), and the organ-driven "Autumn Sweater" (also on POL) provide a mellow break to close out the first half of the album before a hard-charging Husker Du-volume cover of The Beach Boys' "Little Honda"****. After this the second half of the album is a bit less engaging. The tropicalia "Center Of Gravity" and the faithful cover of the Anita Bryant-popularized "My Little Corner of the World" (charmingly sung by Hubley) are pleasant but offset by the interminable "Spec Bebop", 10-plus minutes of Stereolab noodling, the vespertine "Green Arrow", another almost 6-minute instrumental, and "One PM Again" and "The Lie And How We Told It," two western-tinged americana sleepers. But before grooving off they give us "We're An American Band"*****, 3-minutes of luxurious My Bloody Valentine guitar groaning and psychedelic tremolo, capped off by a howling guitar solo Neil Young wishes he played. Actually the album ends with the Anita Bryant cover but that's a peck on the cheek after the more vigorous nighttime activity.
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