120 DAYS - 120 Days Review

Norway's 120 Days are proponents of the house-of-cards style of songwriting-- from ephemeral elements, they build towering edifices that seem a breath away from toppling. But those structures never topple, thanks to the band's deft hands and measured pace, not to mention the loaded deck from which they're drawing: New Order synths doppler over Kraftwerk's motorik throb....full text They fuse jagged guitars and pumping drums with icily throbbing synths, clattering beatboxes and yearning vocals. They make darkly stylish music that rocks -- but is indisputably hypnotic and danceable....full text I was initially disappointed with 120 Days, not really catching on to their slow burning appeal until the second listen. I think my disappointment may have come from the band’s ambitious name, derived from an unfinished tale by Marquis de Sade, "120 Days of Sodom." Sade’s infamous tale of pedophilia spawned Salo, the film reputed to be the most perverse piece of cinema ever made. With that as a reference point, 120 Days, the band, do not live up to the absolute psychosexual madness implied in their moniker. Instead, the band proceeds to calmly douse everything in sonic rubbing alcohol and then light a match....full text