Chrome

(Temporary Residence)

So you see, sir, the premise is that local duo Nice Nice--exceptionally talented at their respective tools of drums, guitar, and kinetic rhythm--plays all genres of contemporary music, ranging from psychedelic field-recording bliss-out to slamming hiphop riddims to unlikely crunky noize, sometimes in an improvised manner. But like, melted all together. Watching them interact live is best, as they make stops on a millisecond of a dime, capture freaky real-time guitar samples, make unpredictable improvised madness. By the time eight layers of rhythm and noise unfurls from guitarist Jason Buehler's pedal apparatus, and drummer Mark Shirazi bends time with his twisty, jazzy, bassy spectrum of beats, you're going, "What the eff?"

Sir, the problem is translating this energy/virtuosity to disc. In the past, Nice Nice hasn't translated perfectly to recording, and those uninitiated in their manner of music-making would potentially think their recording was electronic. Perhaps, then, this is why the duo has seen fit to specify, "There are no overdubs on this recording" on their first release with Temporary Residence. The whole record is live. All the lightning-bolt heavy noise ("Chez Clix"), the spooky harmonics meltdown ("See-Thru Plastic"), their own dubby takes on the styles of Neu! ("Nein") and Missy Elliott ("On Neon"), even the explicitly '70s funk jams--no overdubs. Just two dudes. And like, 27 pedals. Oh, and these weird percussive thingies that look like the grill for the stove.

The no-overdubs part, plus the impeccable recording/producing by Ben Buehler, captures Nice Nice in a whole new way. By placing vastly different tracks side by side in a way that would seem awkward in a live setting, the breadth and depth of the duo's repertoire is totally illuminated. They wear their influences on their sleeves--influences which clearly range from obscurant dub to '70s noize to like, John Cage. It's almost like they're doing live mash-ups of themselves. And hey, that's pretty cool. In an era when a traditional rock set-up of guitar and drums has hit a wall creatively, Nice Nice melts the face of convention.