Shape of Fiction - art noise

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And if you ever venture to Utopia, make sure Tel Aviv is playing in the background. The Shape of Fiction, the band's March release, has that kind of beyond-this-plateau feel - a sound suspended in midair between late '60s psychodelica, early '80s new wave and the ongoing po-mo movement. Out of the darkness comes a new breed of Teen Beat brand musicians - Obies, at that. And with them, a fresh approach to the all-embracing indie pop genre blandly redefined too many times before.

Fiction, though it fits nicely into the aforementioned stereotype, should serve as something of an example to its contemporaries. While song after eleventh song revels in the theory that less is more, flaunting a barely-there kind of approach to lyricism and melody, the album is hardly emtpy. On the contrary: it speaks of simpler times, pushed forward into the past and stuck somewhere in the era of computers and complicated sociology.

"We waited far too long for you," Andy Comer, guitarist, vocalist (and college junior) sings in "I Have Met A Writer," and the listener can't help but agree with him. Though the "you" here is undefined, with Comer's tone of voice, one can fill almost anything into the blank. After all, doesn't life itself take far too long to wait for? With his effortlessly soothing conversation, this is the sort of impression Comer gives. Tel Aviv urges the listener to read into the song in any way they wish, as long as it's a deep enough thought to match Comer's voice.

However, lyrics and vocals are not what make Tel Aviv the eerie starlings they are. Rather, it's the style in which they can take a single-pitched hum of an amplifier and turn it into a melody. This technique is used best with "Introduction," literally a preparation at the start of the album for Tel Aviv's cooing melodies. While the song moves slowly, it sweeps the listener into its grasp, brushing the wafts of frail sounds against the absence of percussion, simply providing a few minutes to get into the mood.

Interestingly enough, once this ambient-background theme has been introduced, Tel Aviv follow with thin Air Miami/Velvet Underground-esque pop on "I Am Particular." However, this is not a bad thing: the band shows they can explore cutesy pop as well as the serious drones of dark moods. The song is summery and light; easy rhythm and background vocals remind one of daydreaming in the grass watching the clouds pass. The image may sound thin, but then again, considering the song is based on the repetition of its title statement ("particular" - to what?), Tel Aviv encourages the anything goes philosophy.

Fiction lives up to its name. While unearth-like ambience and quiet synthetic percussion transport the listener to a plateau of inner reflection, in the end, one might question how realistic it is. Perhaps the whole album was in the listener's head, made up from the tiny atoms of the brain cells, imitating the scientific little motives heard in "The Arcades Project." But then again, it had to have been real. After all, it's on tape, er, CD. For an experience as musical as it is meditative, Tel Aviv deliver. We could all use a trip to Utopia every once in awhile, even if it's only for 37 minutes.