Era
JAXART Records (2008)

1.21 Jiggawatts

by Nicholas Nocketback

Our hometown heroes are back at it with a fresh dipped EP due out September 30th. Luckily, though, with my honey-tongued gift of gab and thick delicious creamy pallid thighs, I scooped up a copy before anyone else.

Era finds Rademacher in familiar territory. As with Ice Age, this EP is a shorter, folkier (not sure if that’s a word, but I ain’t going back now) version of their independent rock spirit. I liken them to Beck in the sense that they’ll drop a rockier album and then a mellow, more skeletal pensive piece a la Sea Change or Mutations.

This EP offers listeners an array of emotion and musings, carved in plodding drumbeats, meandering organ, and Sosa’s inimitable tone. The song writing, like the band itself, is deft, heartfelt, and a bit obtuse at times.

“MAGIC MNT PKWY” is a track indicative of this album in that it reminds one of a tune from a bygone era. Think of Santo and Johnny’s 1959 track “Sleep Walk” and that’s what you’ll hear. It’s as if Rademacher jumped in their Delorean, hit 88 miles per hour, and recorded an album in amber, to be retrieved and listened to only now.

“I Don’t Need Nobody” is a track conceived with L.A. band Death to Anders. This country and blues piece focuses on whining, plaintive guitars and lyrics about codependency, letting go, and all the subtle nuances of self-loathing and self-deprecation—a real heart warming tune for the whole family.

Fear not, though, Stunts fans, “If You Know What I Know” is a track that could’ve been a bonus from Rademacher’s popular full-length album. But a song that’ll surely throw you for a loop is “Believer,” a sound not like anything I’ve heard from this motley bunch before. You can check them all out September 30th. For now, visit myspace.com/rademacher or radradrad.com.

Also, peep out their page and catch a glimpse of some hot-ass covers not on the album…can you say Whitney Houston pre-crackhead days? Yes, Sosa does Houston so convincingly I almost want to have him tested for traces of Bobby Brown.