Aqueduct - Pistols at Dawn

Somehow, I ended up with two copies of this EP. I think I got one from Scotti's in Summit, forgot about it, and then got the other from Found Sound in Ferndale. I didn't realize until I finally organized my CD collection earlier this year. The lavender packaging and the Barsuk logo is what prompted me to buy it (twice). The aesthetic is very "Jasc PaintShop Pro" in a good way, with flat colors, Georgian caricatures, and a neat layout that unfolds from the middle of the front cover.

This CD is infused with 2004 hipster irony. David Terry is sandbagging this whole record. His voice is lazily doubletracked, and usually close to, but not quite on, the right pitch. The synths and drum samples don't sound remotely real, and are mixed very hot. "As Close As Your Girlfriend Is Far Away" has a crowd noise sample with an awful CRTV whine that makes the song almost unlistenable.

At least Pistols at Dawn is funny. The songs themselves are cleverly written with flashes of Elton John glam and Gary Numan droll, but the intentionally-lazy production is part of the joke. There's an out of nowhere interjection on "Dinner Mints" that made me laugh so hard I had to stop the disc. "Who Wanna Rock" is just ironically awful enough to be enjoyable ("who wanna rock with the Aqueduct/you want but you just cant stop-educt/I'll make you jump around like an awkward duck"). The best song on here (indie hip-hop track "Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights") shows up on I Sold Gold with a better mix, so maybe get that album instead of this EP.

Pistols at Dawn by Aqueduct is a bad EP, but I like it.