Joy Zipper - 'American Whip' (13 Amp / Vertigo)
4/5
By: Toby L
'I'd love you more than a thousand Christmasses...'
Joy Zipper, it's fair to say, linger on the twee side of the fence, where nettles grow with blossoms and fail to sting any wobbly chancer that comes into contact with 'em, birds tweet merrily while building cushion-y nests, and chord-changes and harmonies are more unashamedly slumbering and floating than a den full of smack-heads.
'American Whip', the NYC boy-girl duo's 'lost album' (it almost never got released due to record-label nonsense) - and following impressive, mini-album 'The Stereo & God', which closed 2003 in fine form - is a wistful, angelic collage of cutesy-wootsy vox, mid-pace rhythm-parts, and whirring fuzz-guitar the likes of which Grandaddy employ on a constant basis. It's a 'formula', alright.
But it works. There's something alarmingly comforting about Joy Zipper, whilst a simultaneous groove and pulse holds them in fine stead to avoid any such accusations of nudging upon the borders of dirge; imagine The Raveonettes - only with more than one arrangement.
'Baby You Should Know' sparkles with hammering bass, '33x' longingly nestles amidst sliding guitars and gentle strings, and, cheekily, 'Sunstroke' is a pointless piece of noise that lasts just mere seconds as a lead-in to the work. 'Out Of The Sun', meanwhile, the album's first single, is a groovy, riotously melodic stab at West Coast good chimes rock; 'Drugs' is a lo-fi, acoustic strum-along that lasts but seconds; 'Dosed & Became Invisible' employs orchestral-majesty; 'Alzheimers' contains filthy, Yo La Tengo-esque keys and semi-tragic sentiments presumably linked to the condition of the track's title ('Why are my shoes in the refrigerator?'); 'Ron' is a Pulp-y piece of introspection; and the closing 'Valley Stream' is a bittersweet masterclass in robust beauty - 'You're the moon/And I'm the sun', apparently.
Hardly an instant winner, but through multiple airings and - inevitably - a true, 'it-crowd' cult-of-being due to cling to their name like a sweaty cardigan, Joy Zipper's 'American Whip' may well be the greatest record to pass out to in 2004: warm, lush, and heroically steeped in class without even realising it.
Artists in this article: Joy Zipper
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