The Receiver - Length of Arms

When it comes to their music, Casey and Jesse Cooper don’t do anything halfway. The brothers who make up local band the Receiver are perfectionists, especially Casey, the apparent vision-caster who handles vocals, bass, keyboards, synth, piano, programming and all the lyrics while Jesse mans the drum kit.

With Length of Arms, the two have mastered the art of making a richly rewarding, sonically crisp studio album. Like the Receiver’s 2006 release, Decades, this new record is meant to be heard from front to back, with songs that ebb and flow into others, yet stand on their own just fine. The Coopers do one thing, and they do it quite well. If it’s not broke...

There are some subtle differences, though. Length of Arms is more densely layered with keys and synth, creating a thick, liquid sound to back up Casey’s mournful, milky voice. It’s like an electronic, alien orchestra. And just as before, having Jesse’s live drums instead of loops is crucial, grounding everything back to earth with something organic. That rich combination of sounds is maintained throughout the entire record, without a hiccup. It’s a fully realized vision. (Producer/engineer Mike Landolt no doubt had much to do with this, as well.)

Radiohead is an obvious touchstone for arty rock such as this—complex melodies presented thoughtfully, gracefully and with a fluidity that’s rarely off-putting or inaccessible. In fact, there are slightly more pop leanings on Length of Arms (see “Intervals” and “Amazing Thing”) than on the previous effort, along with more open space to allow the record to breathe; the piano intro to “Hide” is a particularly nice, airy respite.

Casey’s vaguely confessional lyrics are more about crafting a mood, stretching out a phrase like well-chewed gum. It’s nothing for a monosyllabic word to contain three or four notes. “Strength in Numbers” yearns for clarity (“I try to look past mirrors, shifting weight and dreaming in hope to view what blind men see”) while the confessional album-closer “Amazing Thing” seeks redemption (“Bearing my slate to wash it clean”). The first single, “Visitor,” seems to deal mostly with materialistic excess and consumption, echoed by the kleptomaniacal video, which is (unsurprisingly) one of the best-looking, best-produced music videos that’s ever come out of Columbus.

The Receiver’s songs worm their way a little farther into the wrinkles of your brain with each listen, and while they’re undoubtedly crafted so that layers reveal more layers over time, a few of these ambitious songs could stand to be reined in from five minutes to four. That said, no one could justly accuse the Cooper brothers of lazy composition. It’s rare to hear an album this artfully arranged.

The Receiver’s CD-release show will be held this Friday at Skully’s, 1151 N. High St. Also scheduled are Hotel Eden and a DJ set by Kelly Warner.

(Also at The Other Paper.)

The Receiver - "Visitor" video

Columbus band The Receiver made a video for a new song called "Visitor" off their upcoming sophomore album, Length of Arms, due out this spring (CD release show 5/8 at Skully's). Production-wise, it's probably the best music video from a Columbus band I've seen, and a good song to boot. Bandmate brothers Jesse and Casey Cooper have submitted it to an Ohio Film competition, so if you agree with my positive assessment, be sure to give it some YouTube ratings love. I'd say it very much deserves to be a finalist.

Watershed w/ The Receiver, LC Pavilion, 1-11-08

Before Friday, it had been quiet on the Watershed front for quite a while. Even though the band released the live album Three Chords and a Cloud of Dust II in September, the last time the much-loved local rockers played their hometown was in August 2007, and that was the only show of the year. The two principal songwriters have been conspicuously absent: Singer/guitarist Colin Gawel has been managing Colin’s Coffee in Upper Arlington (though he occasionally can be found playing with his side project, the League Bowlers), and singer/bassist Joe Oestreich has been teaching at a college in Washington while doing some writing for literary journals and Esquire.

For a band that majors in loud, messy, catchy rock-and-roll and has been known to hit the road for long stretches, one show in 365 days is a distinct change of pace. So Friday night at the LC was a comeback of sorts, a chance for the band to reacquaint itself with hometown fans who have been (im)patiently waiting for a triumphant return. But the question that seemed to be on everyone’s minds, the elephant in the room, so to speak, was: After almost 20 years, does Watershed still have it, or is the band finally past its prime?

Fortunately, the time off has only reinvigorated the band, because the seasoned professionals sound as good as ever. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but Watershed doesn’t really aim for perfection. The band thrives on spontaneity, and there’s a certain amount of sloppiness that comes along with that. There were some flubbed chords and missed notes--Gawel’s voice in particular seemed to be going towards the end of the night--but Watershed’s contagious energy and onstage charisma made the dents and scratches all seem like part of the show. I’ll take some minor infractions in exchange for an invigorated performance.

There’s nothing sloppy about Watershed’s songwriting, though. Taking lessons from Cheap Trick, the Kinks and the Replacements, the band doesn’t write a song that you can’t sing along to by the second chorus. But what separates Watershed from the power-pop herd is that Gawel and Oestreich actually write good lyrics to go along with those choruses. Neither are afraid to write with sincerity but perform with playfulness.

The two singers use the dual vocal attack successfully and sound their best when both are contributing. Oestreich showed his impressive range and clarity on “5th of July” and “Anniversary,” especially during the latter’s refrain: “She's telling me now/This thing has run its course/Eight years for what/A shotgun divorce.” “Suckerpunch” and “Mercurochrome,” both fist-pumping rock songs, sounded particularly fresh and vital.

Watershed drew a respectable crowd, especially for a Columbus band, but at a venue like the LC, it still felt sparse. A smaller venue might have suited the band’s return better.

Opener The Receiver was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Watershed, sonically and in its performance philosophy, which made for a bizarre pairing. While Watershed’s specialty is off-the-cuff rock, the Receiver’s show was entirely programmed, utilizing computers playing looped instrumentation. Singer/multi-instrumentalist Casey Cooper stayed on bass most of the night while his brother, Jesse Cooper, manned the drum kit, so the rhythm section ruled the night. The band played droney, Radiohead-inspired tunes with a thick, liquid sound. I liked it.

The Cooper brothers aren’t ones to rush into a song. Most of the tunes had some sort of instrumental prologue to introduce the song’s personality and set the tone. Every song in the set had a distinct ebb and flow to it, with minor tones throughout; even the cathartic sections had somber overtones as Casey slid around them in a delicate timbre.

The band had its set videotaped, and the cameras were inordinately intrusive on multiple occasions, which will probably make for a good video but was really annoying live. I also prefer my rock a little more free-form, not so precisely orchestrated, but the brothers Cooper impressed nonetheless. I’ll be looking to hear more from the pair.