Fraudband -Many ways in.. one way out

Fraudband

Many ways in.. one way out
Kasumuen; 2015

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The band Fraudband (who in my acquired knowledge seem to be two people) recently released a nine-song album entitled Many ways in​.​.​. .​.​.​one way out. It’s an incredibly sparse album consisting of just drums and guitar. I have to admit I was a bit skeptical at first about how it would unfold. Turns out Many ways in​.​.​. .​.​.​one way out is a solid release that while not exploring new types of possibilities with the guitar makes some good noise. The noise I’m referring to is white and it's one of the reasons the songs work.

This album is all about textures and tone. It was recorded into a Neve desk, which is one factor in how they got that saturated guitar tone. The guitar sound is warm and fuzzy. There aren’t any piercing high-end frequencies, which are all too common these days with movies recording on a digital medium.

On their Bandcamp page Fraudband describes their music as garage rock, psychedelic and post-rock. I can see elements of those (except post-rock is definitely arguable) but I think they are cutting themselves short if they don’t consider some of their music experimental. 

Take for instance “(I've got an) Eastern Block” which flirts with eastern modes and benefits from making drone like sounds with a guitar. Other songs like “Tangled Up” blends elements of blues rock with more extended drones that were most likely implemented with a whammy bar. The band goes into classic rock territory with “Come At Me” which is a great name for the song since it feels like it has a lot of attitude while “Starting Over” is a borderline hypnotic with repeated riffs of chaos.

The guitar playing and drumming on Many ways in​.​.​. .​.​.​one way out isn’t impressive because of their technical abilities but rather the stream of conscious type creativity that exudes from the songs. I’m not sure how you feel but I would take this trade off any day of the week. Recommended. 

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