Robedoor: Only Obnoxious Some of the Time

I really can’t stand all the winding, wordy descriptions that the assumed enlightened wrench out while discussing drone releases and or new psych stuff. It’s all ostentatious and long winded. Yeah, I used a few shined up turds to describe those other writers, but there’s really nothing worse than a ten word string of adjectives to describe sound. Obnoxious. Unfortunately, that’s just how it goes. The stoned glue huffers and cough syrup drinkers that make up the ‘scene’ – whatever that actually means – are gonna do as they please. The rest of us can either eat it and listen to the discs, tapes and records that come out, hoping for something good, or read the tripe that passes as commentary to inform us. It’s not as big a sham as I’ve just made it out to be. And for the most part the dudes (there’re probably some ladies out there writing on this stuff as well) that scribble this mess aren’t pulling in any loot, so it can all be excused as some internet hackery – as can my digression about writing. But what travelers are here for is a bit of info on the good ole Robedoor.

I won’t sit down and count up the spate of releases that this group has accrued over the past few years or so. That’d be a waste of time and relatively pointless. But what is important to note is the fact that Robedoor has been able to change its sound over time – not too drastically as to be poised for radio stardom, but still.

Robedoor, the duo-come-trio that's led by Alex Brown and Britt Brown – of no relation – have always been conscious of the oddity of the genre that they’ve chosen to work in. They’ve surely witnessed some boring and dreary displays of self indulgence. That being said, a huge portion of the group’s discography is pretty close to snore inducing, bland nonsense. Britt explains the live aspect, at least:

“So early on, we decided we might as well amplify the ‘non-spectacle’ aspect of drone music into total visual murk and mystery. For the first two to three years, we nearly always performed in our Stonehenge amplifier arrangement with a dark tarp draped over it all. We liked the energy it gave to the proceedings inside, even more ritualistic and cult-y and cut off from the world.”

With a firm grasp of the genre as well as an appreciation for a variety of music as can be seen through Not Not Fun, the label that Britt Brown has a hand in, Robedoor took a bit of an unexpected detour on the 2009 Raiders.

When contrasted with the vague musicality that makes up the whole of the somehow revered Rancor Keeper, the more recent disc sounds punchy and full of melody. Robedoor haven’t set out to write actually songs per se, but what’s represented over the space of four extended tracks is more than enough to convert the uninitiated and the skeptical. Raiders isn’t gonna make a buncha playlists for the weekend, but there’s at least something to hold on to.