Ribbon of Fear

Personnel: Sydney Roth (vocals, piano); Chris Sutton (vocals, drums); Olivia Hess (vocals); James Maeda (guitar); Erin Schmith (organ); Robert Comitz (drums).
Recording information: Dub Narcotic Studios.
Hornet Leg sounds so different on each of its releases that they could be the work of entirely separate bands, and that's almost true; the group's founder, Chris Sutton, has been the only constant through incarnations as art-noise, garage-rock, and melancholy pop outfits. The version of Hornet Leg that recorded RIBBON OF FEAR features Sutton, bassist Bob Desaluniers and drummer Robert Comitz, and they settled on a sound that borrows a little bit from everywhere the band has been before. "Wait!" and "Ruined My Life"'s catchy, self-deprecating wit give the album indie-pop underpinnings, but a lot of punk attitude roughs up these songs. Things never get quite as raw or unhinged as they did on the BLOOD TRILOGY EP, but "We're So Ugly" and the gleefully raunchy "Savage" show Hornet Leg hasn't deserted nasty rock entirely. Sutton's slightly slurred, (mostly) charmingly off-key vocals suggest a young Mick Jagger, Mark E. Smith, and K Records founder Calvin Johnson at different times, which only adds to his band's versatility. They sound especially fun and convincing as a '60s beat combo, covering Larry & the Bluenotes' morbidly mischievous "Night of the Phantom," the Who's "Circles" (which they slow down to a hypnotic grind) and the Luv'd Ones' "I'm Leaving You" with all the spontaneity of a raw live set. Arty tangents like "Snake Oil" and "My Baby" show that the band still doesn't like to stick with one sound for too long, and the moments when Sutton's voice wanders too far away from the key of any given song make RIBBON OF FEAR an occasionally challenging listen. However, no matter how rough the album's edges get, there's still something pretty appealing about the members of Hornet Leg's willingness to take any sound that inspires them and make it their own.