Album: sBACH
Artist: sBACH
Genre: Math Rock/8-Bit
Year: 2008
Label: Suicide Squeeze
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows of either of them that both members of the band Hella are clinically insane. A drum and guitar Math Rock duo from Sacramento, California, Hella has been bending and breaking peoples conceptions of music for close to a decade now. Of the two musicians involved, their drummer, the notorious Zach Hill, is probably the better known one considering his prolific discography and if you know me or my writing, you’ve probably heard me ramble on about him at one point or another. Cause he’s great. Naysayers can be silent, Sean. But I’m not here to talk about Zach again; I’m here to shine some light towards Hella’s other (and perhaps, better) half. That half is Spencer Seim, axe-shredder extraordinaire. Seim’s one of those guitarists that makes amateurs give up before they even get started because he’s so good. He’s also the drummer for videogame rockers The Advantage, which provided initial proof of his being a multi-talented musician. In August of 2008, a week after Zach Hill released his solo album Astrological Straits, Seim released his first solo album under the moniker sBACH.
The sticker on the case for sBACH’s self-titled album reads “A Thousand Times Better Than Anything I’ve Done With Hella or The Advantage.” I read this and pretty much had this reaction: “Jesus, Spencer Seim is a prick.” I couldn’t believe the hubris of it: declaring your first solo project better than the other bands you were in with other living, breathing people. I went into the album the first time I heard it wanting to hate it because I assumed that Seim was a complete asshole. Since then, I’ve let this go and have decided two things: 1) Seim probably isn’t serious and probably got the exact reaction he wanted out of me, 2) If Seim is serious, then he’s wrong. Because sBACH, while very, very good isn’t “a thousand times better than Hella or The Advantage.” It is, however, more interesting. sBACH sounds like Math Rock meeting 8-Bit Experimentalism and it could well be the most epic oldschool videogame soundtrack you’ve ever heard for a videogame that doesn’t exist. And yes, it’s better than the Zelda soundtrack, you cheese.
All thirteen tracks are without names leaving us to navigate by track number alone. This also struck me as kind of pretentious, but again, the music makes up for it. At times, the old-style 8-bit synthesizers sound a bit silly, but that is doubtless the effect Seim was going for and it comes off more as playful than cheesy. Seim put together the album and produced it by himself, which allowed his virtuosity to shine through on not just one, but all of the instruments. He apparently can play anything, from guitar to drums to synths and play them beautifully at that. I used the word “epic” before, but I’ll haul it out again, specifically in describing “Track 08” (OK, I’m docking more points for this “no-titles” thing, cause it really is annoying.) Coming in slow before exploding into a Hella-like guitar shred the likes of which will melt your face off, “Track 08” is one of the finer examples of Seim’s excellent fretwork. But songs like “Track 02” and the brilliantly titled “Track 07” are where the 8-bit description feels most appropriate as they both rely heavily on old synths and both conjure up images of leaping over oncoming turtle shells and adventuring into forbidden dungeons. The drum parts on “Track 02” are also pretty damn awesome and something to watch out for.
Sometimes the music takes a more spastic Hella route, but it never gets quite that out of control sounding as Seim is holding the reins tight on… himself. There are moments where Seim threatens to stray into “I’m trying to play like Zach Hill” territory on the drums, but he always stops himself and pulls back into his less schizodelic style. Which is good because, really, no one should try to be Zach Hill except for Zach Hill. Just like no one should try to be Spencer Seim expect for Spencer Seim. In conclusion, sBACH is a bizarre, fun and often rewarding project that demonstrates that Seim’s abilities as a musician go far beyond simply being a master shredder and well into master composer… for video game rock anyways. But hey, how often are you gonna hear 8-bit rock this good? sBACH may not be “a thousand times better” than Hella or The Advantage, but it is a thousand times better than every other 8-bit rock band.
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