by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Lars Finberg has been working his magic for over twenty years. The Los Angeles via Bakersfield via Seattle based musician first caught our ears at the turn of the century with the eternally harsh angular heroics of A Frames, a dark and discordant band that made post-punk long after the initial era but well before the revival ran rampant. Over the years he’s been involved with many projects (Rubber Blanket, Wounded Lion, Unnatural Helpers, drums on one of Thee Oh Sees finest albums, solo records, etc) but the one project that has been a constant for two decades is The Intelligence, a project that has reshaped itself many times in that run.
While it started as a vehicle for blown out home recordings in Seattle, it became a full band over the years, releasing some truly stellar albums for In The Red, an essential live record for Castle Face, and most recently returning to its roots, with Finberg playing and performing everything at home on last year’s eclectic Lil’ Peril. The album, released via Mt. St. Mtn (Cindy, R.E. Seraphin, Flowertown) and Vapid Moonlighting Inc, highlights the fact that Finberg has become an exceptional producer over the years, but also that his songwriting remains intrinsically vibrant, bouncing with lo-fi mutant disco, jittery punk, agitated garage pop, bent soul, and warped yet classic psych. The record rarely stays in one place, mood, or tempo for long, as mid songs shift take us from cosmic reaches into simple arrangements, darting between abrasive clamor and hypnotic boogie.
With the album released back in September, we can all use a reminder to keep it in rotation, and a new lyric video for “70’s” does just that. The song, perhaps the closest to the vintage Intelligence of the Everybody’s Got It Easy But Me era, revolves around a delightfully abrasive garage punk stammer, the song’s first verse rhythmic yet void of percussion or bass. Finberg’s punchy vocals draw us in but it’s the break between verses that flips the script, opting out of the garage and into a quick but charming haze of ping ponging Tropicália inspired sound. The video parts from the lyrics and its excellent font choice animation for the instrumental break and well… a nice game of pong. When the second verse comes in, drums and bass included, the heft, while still relatively skeletal, has a gargantuan impact. As the song waxes on the idea that it’s okay to feel things (stress, happiness, etc), the video pulls in color and abstract design, a simple premise that’s really done with great appeal. By the time the song wanders into the psych stumble of the hook (“you may not be special but you’re special to me”), we’re treated to a backdrop of construction paper emphasis. Delights abound with lines like “scum set to scum rise” and unexpected shifts in the video’s textures and design.