Basically a track review, this: San Diego, California, band the Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower’s latest EP, INRI, is “INRI” in two incarnations and a Bowie cover of “Boys Keep Swinging”. Sorry, but I can’t really take bands seriously who do Bowie covers since A Plus P’s sweet ode to Williamsburg lambasted the hipster idol-worship. And in any case, the hard-edged cover passes quickly, without leaving much of an impression. “INRI” is built around a crescendo — one of those tracks that builds in texture and intensity, but the MO is pure indie fashion-show: blues-stomp with disgusted, guttural vocals, a Drones sans-ferocity, sans the creepy asymmetrical haircut guitarist who would get drunk onstage swigging directly from the bottle of vodka, all show. No, the Plot seem too calculated by far for that, and it’s a shame, because at the bottom of all their posturing could be an interesting sound. Nick Zinner (the drummer from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) contributes a remix of the title track, but it seems he’s a drummer more than a remixer, as the military pattern drumbeat overtakes the song, drowning out both the vocals and a peppy brass accompaniment.
The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower: INRI EP
The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower
Art Fag
2006