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Sam Champion - Heavenly Bender
| Rollingstone |
| This Brooklyn quartet, who share their name with the Good Morning America weather anchor, copped Stephen Malkmus's deadpan delivery and elliptical lyrical approach on their debut, 2004's Slow Rewind. They keep up that trend on their sophomore effort, a slightly more freewheeling affair that overcomes its lack of innovation through sheer youthful exuberance. Switching effortlessly between a raucous, roadhouse boogie and slower, moodier numbers, the group plows through 12 cuts in just under 40 minutes. "Be Mine Everyone" grows from a rickety blues shuffle into a swaggering monster. The lurching "You Can't Stop," with its monotone vocals, sounds like Built to Spill fronted by a chorus of dead-eyed extras from a George Romero flick. "We Will Awaken" is the crushing hangover after yet another late night, with singer/guitarist Noah Chernin crooning like a man who can't quite wipe the sleep from his eyes. Lyrically, the band remains as obtuse as ever: "Direct" finds Chernin repeatedly telling his girl, "You don't bring butter, baby." But no matter: in the time it takes to ponder what that phrase means, the guitars rumble in and carry the tune to a thrillingly rowdy climax....full text |
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| Pitchforkmedia |
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Nothing is sacred, nothing gets you high anymore." Sam Champion singer/guitarist Noah Chernin repeatedly deadpanned those words on his Brooklyn indie rock outfit's debut full-length, 2004's Slow Rewind, a rightfully overlooked slacker-rock workout that drew less favorable comparisons to Pavement than did fellow neo-classicists Tapes 'N Tapes just a few months later. Not many people outside of New York really tasted Sam Champion's tapes. So given the subsequent critical discussion on whether or not it was too soon to revive that particular aesthetic, it seems like they were right on time-- though just as short on fresh ideas. In the two or three years Heavenly Bender has taken to incubate, Sam Champion have taken to expanding their sound to recall more than the wry half-smiles and meanderings of Pavement. They've dirtied their jeans, studied the moves of Crazy Horse, grown fuses for detonating, and become a live band that make believers out of non-believers-- a feeling that has translated well to record here. Opening stretches as fruitful or sweet are difficult to come by. "Like a Secret" weds ten sheets of XTC-brand sparkle to bungee guitar lines that morph from monkey bars to white squall in the course of only three minutes. "Be Mine Everyone" is a tried-and-true roadhouse burner that lives and dies by the delicious, scuzzbucket riff that drives it. While Chernin's still a near-dead ringer for Stephen Malkmus at times, his delivery-- despite shaggy obfuscations-- has found venom that matches the teeth-gnashing of the rhythm section (Jack Dolgen and Ryan Thornton) behind him. That leadoff's pace counteracts well the droll, stubbornly mid-tempo work that weighed them down previously. It also signals more: they've become a band that's broken loose zigzagging through more decades than just one, playing cards with the Zombies as often as the Pixies. No frills, less fuss....full text |
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| Prefixmag |
| Is this world big enough for two Sam Champions? The dual personas in question seem to think so, but in order for us to decide, let’s compare stats. The first Sam Champion -- the real Sam Champion -- is the openly gay weather anchor for Good Morning America whose mere birth name predestined him to forecast the weather, a man for whom only his golden blond hair could rival his sunny predictions. The other Sam Champion is a noisy Brooklyn-based quartet. The reason this foursome opted for the weatherman’s namesake may forever be a mystery, but we can only assume that it was more a playful nod at Champion’s clean-cut, impeccably polished image and Nordic good looks -- the antithesis to any working band playing gigs out of their bus -- than a decision banking on the sheer novelty of Sam Champion being America’s most recognizable gay weatherman. Because that would be totally uncool....full text |
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