Transient Tractor – Failure / 2005 Self-Released / 23 Tracks / http://www.transienttractor.com / [email protected] / Reviewed 07 March 2005

While this is considerably better than a number of the one-person bands that I’ve had the (dis) pleasure to work with in the last few years (namely Steve Lieberman and Mizar), the fact is that Chris Cortelyou (the main contributor of music on this disc) is still miles before eir can sleep. The music is fairly professional, sounding about par for the cheap studio sound, but the vocals on this disc do not fit in the slightest with any of the musical arrangements. Chris does have an ear for melody, but the disconnect is such that it feels often that the creation of music and vocals happened at two distinct times, with Chris being in two very different moods. There are moments when the two different currents sync up for a moment, such as in “Not A Star”. “Not A Star” is not surprisingly one of the more solid tracks on “Failure”, a track that could conceivably bring fans into Chris’ stable.

Chris does have one thing going for eir, being the fact that the average fare on “Failure” is very hard to categorize. On the promotional sheet, Chris tries to put forward a likeness to Beck and The Strokes, but I’m just not seeing enough coherence in the music on this disc to make that logical leap. “New Future” begins with a strong, emotive bass line but falls relatively fast into the sea of mediocrity that really marks this disc. The track does have a poppier sound to it than many of the tracks on failure, but everything has an ultra-hygenic feel to it that ultimately makes the song more disjointed than catchy. This is one of the great injustices on “Failure”, as Chris gets into one of the most infectious grooves midway through the track, only to lose it through a Spartan soundscape, with only a distorted guitar to take up the slack.

Chris’ stuff does have potential, but the prognosis for the ills on this disc is similar to those other one-person bands: find the rest of a band and go communally to create the music. Record together and make the entirety of your music one group effort instead a number of layers. “Failure” really comes into its own during the middle section of the disc, and I have no doubt that as soon as Chris irons out these problems, Transient Tractor’s name will become well known.

Top Tracks: New Future, Monkey

Rating: 5.2/10