Nomadic Firs s/t (Crash Symbols)


    
    Is it weird that I feel like Nomadic Firs is the kind of music that I would hear used in a Target commercial? The happy go lucky sounds just remind me of odd monochromatic marketing campaigns featuring Starfucker jams. The self titled CS from Nomadic Firs mainstay Ryan Boos is like a bag of Sour Patch kids, no matter how burnt the rough of your mouth is from all that sour powder you just keep going back for more. This is pretty straightforward pop music, with obvious tropical and folk influences. Lo-fi buzz lingers throughout catchy hooks and nod worthy beats. Every kid with a faux flannel shirt and fixed gear bicycle will be all over this band like free samples.

     I can hear all sorts of influences on this, think Blur mixed with David Bowie and a touch of New Order. People will probably try to lump this in with the Animal Collective clay that everything seems to be made with these days; but I assure you this is its own animal. My favorite songs on this are probably Vines (The obvious single) and Generations the beginning to the B-side.

    I think Boos succeeds most when he is more focused on conventional pop songwriting, lyrics hooks etc. There are some more trip hop sounding songs on here that he doesn’t shine on, but are still interesting enough to be progressions within the album mainly “i94”.  There is also a lot of blank space on the A-side, which doesn’t feel like a conceptual benefit to the album itself and is quite a bother when trying to listen all the way through.

    Lets get real though; this tape is probably going to appear on some top ten lists, it’s a really good release. I don’t think I would personally seek out this music, but I would definitely ask, “Who the hell is this? It's pretty interesting.” if I heard it somewhere. This is cool stuff, and deserves every ounce of hype it gets. You can see the craft and time that it took to make Nomadic Firs what it is. I won’t be surprised when this sucker goes viral and the CS is selling on discogs for $30!

Straightforward quality dubbing and printing from the Crash Symbols, they keep it too real.

-CFIL

Listen and Buy HERE!