{"id":41709,"date":"2016-02-24T02:52:36","date_gmt":"2016-02-24T08:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/?p=41709"},"modified":"2016-02-24T02:53:06","modified_gmt":"2016-02-24T08:53:06","slug":"wild-nothing-life-of-pause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/2016\/02\/24\/wild-nothing-life-of-pause\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Nothing: Life of Pause"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Life<\/a>Intros can be something special. After a year of teasing fans, infuriating critics, and <\/span>going absolutely bonkers <\/span><\/a>on Wiz Khalifa on Twitter, Kanye West pseudo-released <\/span>the Life of Pablo <\/span><\/i>last week. Pablo\u2019s life apparently began with an agreeable preacher-baby, as illustrated by opening track \u201cUltra Light Beams.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>The Life of Pablo<\/span><\/i>\u2019s intro sounds like chewing pills tastes: unsavory, but special. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Wild Nothing\u2019s third LP, <\/span>Life of Pause<\/span><\/i>, Pause\u2019s life begins similar to Pablo\u2019s, except it\u2019s not as special, despite being similarly unsavory. On \u201cReichpop,\u201d Jack Tatum, Wild Nothing\u2019s creative head, follows an unsatisfying one-and-a-half minute album intro, preaching \u201cthe less you say, the less that you get wrong.\u201d But <\/span>Life of Pause <\/span><\/i>says so much more than Wild Nothing\u2019s previous albums. Tatum embeds nearly every track with signature reverberating guitars, reverberating xylophones, and even reverberating 16-bit synths. Frankly, it sounds like a bell-choir in an airplane hangar sometimes. <\/span><\/p>\n

Nocturne<\/span><\/i> sounded like something to be preserved. It displayed fragility as it vulnerably drifted from one excellent track to another, scarcely manifesting itself in more than a wisp. <\/span>Life of Pause <\/span><\/i>drops chrome dumbbells on the same scarce sound. It\u2019s more tangible and polished, but it\u2019s indecisive as a result. Rather than eagerly anticipating what comes after the pretty, glazed intro on \u201cA Woman\u2019s Wisdom,\u201d you had to hope it wouldn\u2019t be over-saturated with chromy synths and a wall of kazoos. Despite the snappy drums\u2019 prominence in the mix, \u201cA Woman\u2019s Wisdom\u201d integrates the new instrumentation remarkably well. Tatum even taunts the listener, asking, \u201cHow does that sound?\u201d at the end of the track. It simultaneously sounds familiar and progressive. <\/span><\/p>\n

On \u201cLady Blue,\u201d Tatum begs even more questions, asking, \u201cWill I find a way to make sense of the way that you love me?\u201d and \u201cCan you wait forever, girl?\u201d These lyrics needed more reverb, as to render them incoherent. On the title track, \u201cLife of Pause,\u201d he epistemically pursues the answer, pleading, \u201cHow can we want love?\u201d Tatum may never discover the answer, but he discovers a tentative remedy: irresistible melodies. The title track blossoms despite the chrome dumbbells resting on it. Simplicity, and tasteful reverb, saves <\/span>Life of Pause. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Endearing peculiarities manifest themselves on \u201cAlien,\u201d where the occasionally ethereal ambience is subverted by bombastic drums and eerily modulated guitars. Tatum paternally brings the experience back down to Earth afterward with high fidelity ’80s guitar reverb on \u201cTo Know You.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Life of Pause <\/span><\/i>is an intermediary album. It is an unsteady, but promising bridge to Wild Nothing\u2019s next project. While <\/span>Life of Pause <\/span><\/i>removes most of the \u201cdream\u201d from \u201cdream pop,\u201d Wild Nothing\u2019s choice to coalesce with the physical world presents tantalizing possibilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

In \u201cTo Know You,\u201d Tatum answers his own badgering questions, answering our questions about Wild Nothing\u2019s future in the process: \u201cThere\u2019s no answer to your questions.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Recommended If You Like: Ducktails, Lower Dens, DIIV<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recommended Tracks: 5 (Life of Pause), 6 (Alien), 10 (Whenever I)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do Not Play: None<\/strong><\/p>\n

Written By Logan Gossett 02\/24\/16<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life of Pause is an intermediary album. It is an unsteady, but promising bridge to Wild Nothing\u2019s next project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6418,"featured_media":41710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3235,3230,181],"tags":[4394,3406,4202,3414,957],"class_list":["post-41709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-music-reviews","category-new-music-rotation","category-rock-rotation","tag-life-of-pause","tag-logan-gossett","tag-shoegaze","tag-synthpop","tag-wild-nothing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Life-of-Pause.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kjhk.org\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}