Sunburned Hand of the Man - "Fire Escape"

Sunburned Hand of the Man - Nice Butterfly Mask (Smalltown Supersound 2007)

Sunburned Hand of the Man - Fire Escape / Smalltown Supersound

From that other label that kicks massive ass out of Norway, here again is Sunburned Hand of the Man. But wait, we haven't actually covered this group before (though it nearly happened with Z earlier this year)... However, if you've been a follower of this group from days as short as four or five months ago, then you'll know they have a pretty healthy discography and there's no lack of material to check out. If you just discovered this group because of Pitchfork, welcome. We invite you to continue your exploration of these supremely talented psychedelic staples.

It always amuses me how the hand of fate plucks some of the most random artists from relative obscurity to garner that extra boost of acclaim, but look, I don't harbor any grudges just because Kieran Hebdan was involved in the production of Fire Escape and other bloggers who ordinarily wouldn't give Sunburned Hand of the Man a second glance are already hyping this album up. Just as I don't view myself as a devoted follower who has been there every step of the way since their formation in Massachusetts in 1997, I also don't view this as a hopeless one-off glitch in the cosmos. If anything, I wish the best for this group because their talents are supreme when it comes to making music to remove yourself from the real world with.

Thankfully, despite big names and some additional knob-twiddling and maybe a few extra effects thrown in for good measure, Fire Escape does not sound like a fundamental alteration of the group's ultimate aesthetic. It isn't a selling out of virtues and it certainly isn't a dumbing down of their expansive sound. Instead, Fire Escape acts as a more beat-driven alternative to their numerous CD-Rs and readymade live recordings. It's the sound of a group exploring percussion and having a good time doing it. This may be tired to say already, but I'm thinking after more than a few listens that this may be Sunburned Hand of the Man's most complete, most satisfying and most successful recording yet.

It sounds like an album, but it sounds like an album that was given serious consideration on virtually every aspect. Of course we can talk about the mix, and it certainly is nice to have Four Tet helping you out, but it's also in the sequencing. That's part of what makes it sound so complete. "Nice Butterfly Mask" here is a good place to start as the first proper song on the album (after the intro "Words to Live By" flickers in on glitchy static). A woozy trumpet stumbling through all of the available back doors and black holes this song has to offer in eight minutes to emerge in reverse and then dissolve into its own cosmos is a right proper way to fuck with your head, isn't it? Just don't call it a companion piece to Radiohead's "The National Anthem." The liquid groove of the bass might even be better.

Hebdan's piano lends itself well to "What Color is the Sky in the World You Live In?" where it runs the track's duration as the group travels over country hillsides to get nowhere in particular. Strangely, this is one of the most purposeful songs the group has ever made. Even more appealing is "The Parakeet Beat," sure to be a favorite this coming fall. Its Amazonian tribal drums are one of the most interesting things to happen on this album, and its breaks could be used in everything from a jungle to a hip-hop DJ set. Just think about it, that's all I'm sayin'.

There's the wandering mystery, the curious jungle mystery of the title-track. There's the ambitious and sinewy 15-minute wanderer "The Wind Has Ears," which best reflects their earlier work. There are a host of other moments both in the aforementioned songs and in ones that haven't been (Why do a track-by-track description when you can just hear it for yourself, right?), but the fact is that all of these moments are great. So what are the complaints?

That depends on what kind of a listener you are. If you yearn for the eight-track old school Sunburned Hand of the Man, Fire Escape may not appeal to you. In truth, this is a smooth and slick release, by far their smoothest and slickest yet. If what you came to hear was something like their heyday as leaders of the New Weird America movement, those days appear to be gone. Perhaps it's possible that the group will continue to release far-flung 7s and limited-run live recordings that will sound more organic or - dare we say it - more authentic. But if production and expectations are the biggest "problems" here, then Sunburned Hand of the Man have just made a giant leap forward. No longer wallowing in the shadows of contemporaries like former tourmates Magik Markers or Elixirs or anyone else, Sunburned Hand of the Man are well and truly in the limelight now. Fire Escape is the definitive proof that even the weirdest of the weird can still make the breakthrough to sound both more accessible and more adventurous. Hopefully people beyond the blogging community will recognize that for themselves.