Boris
Smile
“Flower, Sun, Rain” begins with an ominous couple of chords followed by a swelling mess of feedback before an archaic-sounding drum beat leads it into a Japanese folk-like hymn. Swaths of screeching undercut the pastoral nature of the singing, and slowly they build into a guitar solo built out of scraps and noise. Those opening moments of Smile exemplify Boris’s bait-and-switch approach rather well—the album is a series of clashes between relentless moments and gentle moments. Shortly after the solo, the gentle voice kicks back in, this time accompanied by a naggingly slow drum beat. The screeching begins to warble like the sound of a UFO touching down in an old science fiction movie. Another guitar solo flies over the vocals, now repeating the lyrics of what would be the chorus if the solo hadn’t taken center stage. But it has, and as the song draws to a close amidst the solo’s tremulous squall, it’s clear that the entire song has been built for this moment. Boris have no shortage of ideas, but what makes Smile so special is the way they spiral into one another—instead dividing each song along traditional lines of verse * verse * chorus * verse * chorus * solo *, Boris begin setting up for the solo early in the verse. The final song is so satisfying because the solo is then not only its obvious and ideal conclusion, but also its central focus—even when it’s nowhere in sight.
Of course, there are enough ferocious speed punk workouts to earn Boris the psychedelic metal tag they’re branded with. “Buzz-IN” and “Lazer Beam” both kick off with skater-metal riffs, big and dumb. While “Buzz-IN” takes the approach of a typical punk song (albeit one with some monster drum rolls), “Lazer Beam” pulls a reverse of “Flower, Sun, Rain.” “Lazer Beam” starts with the potential to be a level eight Guitar Hero track, but drives toward a soft landing, when the guitar thrashing subsides and a persistent arena rock drum thud gives way to acoustic guitar. By the time “You Were Holding An Umbrella” opens as a rudimentary drum machine underplaying a power ballad, you know what’s coming: unfuckwithable metal fury. Yet, Boris sustain the balladry for a good half of the 9 minute song. Then, they plug in. Immediately, feedback surges through “You Were Holding An Umbrella” as if the entire album were starting again. When Boris lets loose, they do it within the framework of the ballad, creating a kind of metal-fringed shoegaze. Hearing Boris slide effortlessly from one genre to another, hearing them bend handfuls of guitar styles to their own sound, hearing them wail on their instruments with disciplined abandon, it surprises at each turn. Every time Smile seems to define itself, it veers into another direction, making it one of the slipperiest and most elusive releases of 2008.
-Martin Brown, 2008
*This review refers to the American Southern Lord release of Smile
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