Arts & Entertainment
 

Subset sails past pop

Austin duo impresses with audio 'Duel'

By Ray Hafner
The Daily Cougar

Landing somewhere between petulant psychobabble and clever commentary on the vagaries of modern heartbreak, Austin-based indie-pop band Subset proves it can be a groove and a gas on its latest album, Dueling Devotions.

Kicking off the beat with "What a Model Motto," Subset dives headlong into the album's titular conflict, trying to resolve the goals of a guy in love and a girl in a fling. 

The desire for more commitment, from friends and others, peppers the album, making it a Stratego-like game of manipulated emotions filled with hidden bombs and lurking rogues.

Giving a voice to all this anguished desire is Lindsey Simon, who manages to stay sincere and keep the "why me?" whining out of it. 

He also possesses a bit of vocal dexterity and can switch from a scratchy growling to an airy, Kermit the Frog-esque tune.

Most of the album alternates between melancholic dirges and faster-tempo pop ditties. 

It's the latter form that works best, and some of the album's early tracks are genuinely toe-tapping good. The more somber efforts have a tendency to wallow a little much and fade into their own melancholy.

"For Every A Hole" is an exception. It uses a haunting piano sound and angry riffing on guitar and bass to harmonize Simon's angry-at-the-world's jerks: "It doesn't make sense to save your heart, because when it breaks it don't mean that it's gone."

In a lament on a string of mishaps, Simon curses his "Bad Luck" but turns it into a semi-positive battle cry to keep on trucking even when events conspire against a person. "It's high time to get over. It's my time, start it over," he croons, only to finish — somewhat cryptically — "throw in the towel, just another cow." Cow probably just rhymed well.

Fans of this sort of semi-psychological analysis laid over melodic guitars will find to like here, but it's not for the meek of music heart and will take some getting used to for those who just like pop.

Subset

Dueling Devotions

Tight Spot Records

The verdict: Subset rises to par.

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