Walls of Giant Waves and Ice Fleets

Last week I was fortunate enough to see mewithoutYou (one of my favorite bands ever) with David Bazan (one of my favorite songwriters ever) at The Diamond Ballroom and experience an overload of amazing. Both will get their own posts in due time, but this post is dedicated to the pleasant surprise of that evening, a boisterous little band called Rubik.

Now, the term "little" is pretty much non-applicable, except maybe when used in reference to their currently modest fan base, but I get the feeling that's going to change very soon. Rubik is currently touring with eight members and can have a pretty big, celebratory sound when they go for it. These cool cats hail from Helsinki, Finland, which I once heard described as "a land without sun." I guess when you live in a city that averages around 9.8 hours of daylight in June and 36 minutes of daylight in December, you have to create your own sunshine (can you tell a did a little research for this post?).

Rubik - Wasteland

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The album opener "Goji Berries" is a fun romp through shifting time signatures and what sounds like an army of recorders (probably keys in actuality) that gives you a fairly good idea of what to expect from their second album, "Dada Bandits." Early on they briefly demonstrate their ability to turn from catchy, melodious passages to jarring blasts of not quite consonant joyful noise on a dime, without warning and to brilliant effect. It's the second track "Radiants" that really starts my toes a-tapping, triumphantly bursting forth with bombastic drums and a veritable wall of guitars and synths. It brings to my mind some of the best bits of Grandaddy and the aural theatrics of The Flaming Lips' masterful "The Soft Bulletin," but is still something quite special in and of itself.

Rubik - Radiants

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Now, there's something about the song "Fire Age" that makes me want to ingest a bunch of psilocybin mushrooms and spend a whole day watching children's television (although given the current state of children's television, that might be a spectacularly awful idea). Thus, I feel compelled to post that song here. Let me know if you get the same urges.

Rubik - Fire Age

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Much of the album has this same upbeat, quirky feel and the high energy doesn't let up often. I can't recommend it enough. However, if you're still not sure that this is up your alley, they do have a free EP available to download from their official website, cleverly titled "Data Bandits." You need to have a WordPress account set up (also free) in order to download it, so sign up and get yourself some sweet free tunes. Or, swing on over to the always reliable Daytrotter and nab that live in studio session. Spend some time with these and I can almost guarantee that you'll be ready to drop some dough on the album. Those of you strapped for cash have officially been warned.