Rubblebucket's press page claims that the band "sounds the way a kaleidoscope looks." Actually, they're quite on the mark. And this is not necessarily because the Brooklyn-based 8-piece, who originally hail from Vermont, specializes in battering the listener into compliance via a cacophony of distorted guitar, decaying dance beats, and other electronic ephemera. Think more of a sublime marriage between Kalmia Traver's smooth (almost Sade-smooth) vocals and Latin-influenced melodies of horn players Alex Toth and Adam Dotson. Put more simply, Omega La La is, at its core, a collection of simple folksy, kind of rock-ish, sort of jazzy tracks peppered with clave beats and guitar phrasing that evokes the disco era.

 

Indeed, the band, which adds trumpet, sax, trombone, percussion, and a synth to the normal guitar/bass/drum setup, specializes in constructing upbeat, smooth, and infectious songs that serve as blank canvasses upon which keys, horns, and guitars are painted in with dexterity and deliberate restraint; adding touches of color here and there. In fact, its this addition of subtle changes in instrumentation, time signatures, and overall tone that seems to be what the band does best.

 

If by saying "sounding the way a kaleidoscope looks," the band's press company (Girlie Action) means that the band pulls motifs, instrumentation, and rhythm concepts from a vast array of music, then yes, they are correct. Much like their peers in bands like the Rapture, Minus the Bear, Battles, and the Mars Volta, this indie-rock band seems bent on packing as much sonic variety in their songs as possible. At times this approach works, like in the incredibly catchy "Silly Fathers" and the claveinflected opener, "Down in the Yards." Other times, the songs come off as meandering lounge tracks that get lost in the band's clearly vast array of influences. On songs like "Came Out of A Lady," and "Triangular Daisies," one can almost hear the band asking themselves: are we a disco band, a Cuban rhythm section, or a jazz/lounge act? Like many of their peers they must ask themselves: Can we not

do it all? And that's what we get when kids who grow up with everything suddenly find themselves writing music...

 

There are a few tracks that stand out beyond the "I-really-like-them-now-but-probably-won'tremember- them-in-two-weeks" dilemma (you know, the IRLTNBPWRTIT Dilemma); a phenomenon that seems to be affecting a good many indie bands today. The supremely danceable second track, "L'Homme," is a snobby-sounding, French-language version of nursery rhyme that features a bouncy, disco-infected bass line and a completely unexpected outro centerpiece consisting of a scintillating wall of guitar/synth textures that reaches the soaring highs, and slow-burning lows that one might find in a Sun Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra record (seriously, check out Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy (Saturn, 1963).

 

While the band made a video for the somewhat forgettable "Worker," the real magic can be found in the album's third track, "Silly Fathers." Slick, disco-influenced guitar work sits atop a simple funk beat and provides the perfect back drop for Traver's super-smooth, mid-range, vocals. This is where the band's disco and Afrocuban influences mingle with Traver's evocation of French lounge music to create a truly original, if somewhat offbeat, track. Nothing here sounds out of place or ironic; just great songwriting. Maybe a second record will explore this restraint a bit more.

 

The eighth track, "Lifted/Weak Arms," pays a haunting tribute to the work of the Fania All-Stars; there's even some dub-influenced drumming here. This track is a bass-heavy slow-burner thickened with either chorused keys or guitar. The real treat comes in the track's final moments when, after a half-measure rest, a Mr. Bungle-esque freakout/break gives way to a slowly decaying mélange of delayed/distorted/canned vocals, dub rhythms, controlled guitar feedback, and a heavy foundation provided by some fuzzed out bass. The song dies a slow death via melancholy harmonies between Traver's sax (yeh, she plays horns, too), Toth's trumpet, and Dotson's trombone.

 

Vocal and instrumental deliveries having both taken cues from nursery rhymes, clave rhythms, Latin-influence horn passages, and disco-based guitar work add some interesting textural elements to otherwise great songs, but do little to differentiate what Rubblebucket is doing vis-a-vis the projects undertaken by other indie bands. However, the band's work on songs like "Silly Fathers," "Down in the Yards, "Raining," and "Lifted/Weak Arms," not only demonstrates clear talent and conviction on the band's part, but quite honestly offers them a "way out" of sorts. Put more simply, Omega La La is indicative of a truly original and inspiring path, should the band choose to sacrifice the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality of most of today's indie bands in favor of developing a

more coherent overall sound. Again, like most contemporary indie bands today, and especially those coming out of Brooklyn, restraint is the key word.

04 Came Out of a Lady

07 Rescue Ranger

08 Lifted Weak Arms

09 Triangular Daisies

10 Worker

11 Pile of Rage

“White Label Wednesdays” Whitelabel records we early, exclusive and sometimes alternate mixes of artists material released without the record label and even the artists consent. And for that reason there were very limited pressings of these records. They’re even more rare today. With the leap to mp3′s a lot of these records got lost and forgotten. Check us out right here every Wednesday as I bring those records back! New music will be available for download each week.



Nas - One Mike (MAIN REMIX)

"We started the series with a rare remix from Nas, so I felt it was only fitting to follow up with. Jay Z's Super Ugly the track all Nas fans pretended never happened. I'm loading you up with dirty, clean, instrumental, and even acapella's. Now seeing how this was never an official single these versions are pretty hard to come by... well that is until now."

01 Super Ugly (Clean)

02 Super Ugly (Dirty)

03 Super Ugly Instrumental

04 Super Ugly Acapella (Dirty)

05 Super Ugly Acapella (Clean)

"Beanie Sigel's In The Club has always been one of my favorite tracks,
I mean think about it. Beans over Timbaland production? It was easily
one of the hardest club tracks ever. The single was released from Dj
Clue's "BackStage" LP back in 2000, and of course he was yelling all
over the track. You could imagine how tight we were until this white
label dropped. Nobody yelling, it was a clean version and they even
threw in a tv track."

02 In The Club (Tv Track)

"This track dropped around the middle of the neo soul explosion. Truth be told i don't even know what the original sounds like!? LOL I ever played was Hi-Tek's Remix. Where Syleena Johnson is today, who knows, but Mos blesses us with a couple verses on this track. I give to you clean, dirty, instr and acapella"

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