reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » Power Douglas - Pentecostal Fanbread

Part krautrock griots, part afro-centric jam band, part psychedelic freakout, part knife-angle punk, the Brooklyn quartet known as Power Douglas is, quite possibly, too hip for their own good. Whenever a collection of influences so profoundly perfect comes together, one's first critical instinct is to assume the creators are intending solely to impress their neighbors. And when ALL CAPS production and performance credits include the guest artist's primary band ("vox written and performed by TUNDE ADEBIMPE of TV on the Radio..." for example), perhaps it's also safe to assume that credibility is something these guys have occupying a good bit of their frontal lobes. But, seriously, whatever. Power Douglas may turn out to be a fictional band, created in a Bushwick basement solely to see how gullible indie hipsters have become, but their bristling, high-energy debut album is the very definition of what contemporary underground music should sound like. Raw and unpredictable melody lines careen across propulsive percussion, while skittering sonic effects blast off in various directions, defying the listener to make any assumptions about where these songs are going. Though the influences are easy to spot, they come together in an utterly organic and unruly fashion, making for a wild ride that's far more adventurous than it should be. – Jason Ferguson