Akron/Family – “Everyone is Guilty” Single

Album Reviews • Tuesday March 24th, 2009 • 12:14 pm

So to whet our collective appetite for their forthcoming (but apparently already leaked) Set em’ Wild, Set em’ Free, Akron/Family has released the album’s first single, “Everyone is Guilty” along with its b-side, “Total Destruction.” The two songs betray no huge surprises as far as Akron/Family’s direction with Free, and the single exemplifies the dichotomy of the band that we have come to love.

“Guilty” is a wildly disjunctive song. Again, not too shocking for the Family, but “Guilty” is awash with oddly juxtaposed sections. It begins with what might be called a fractured ska guitar line and some alternate metal percussion, and then after minute or so introduces some awfully poppy harmonies and even some surprisingly sweet strings. But then, with a sharp left turn the song jumps to a chanted minor key section (some platitudes about authoritarianism) and some pretty monster riffs. The song is generally loud, and sounds like the metamorphosis of ‘60s head rock into proggy ‘70s stadium flash. Then we get those strings back and sweeter then ever, with some horns and flute for good measure, taking us into the coda. It’s a lot, even for the song’s six minutes. Dare I say Akron/Family might be getting a little too big for its ample britches?

The single’s b-side is more of a return to the form of their self-titled record. It’s a slow acoustic piece (despite the title) with no percussion and some field recordings of what sounds like a road on a rainy day standing in for white noise. It’s actually (gasp) a little boring – an atypical descriptor of an Akron/Family track. Hopefully the album will maintain the loud/quiet dynamic the single has got, but with a little more focus than “Guilty” and a little more imagination than “Destruction.”

Tagged as: freak folk, New York City, psychedelic rock