Lushes are a band born of tensions - between art and math,
order and chaos, planning and chance. You can hear it in their
songs - taut, twitching art-punk that balance anxiety and elation,
often within the space of a few bars. Album opener ''Harsh'' glides
along slowly, feeling like a moody and measured art-rock
meditation until you zero in on the words in the chorus: ''Harsh on
my ears, that's the way I like it.'' This is push-pull music, songs
that temper the jagged fitfulness of groups like June of 44 and
Slint with the soft-focus sweetness and open-ended song
structures of The Sea & Cake and The Notwist.
That moods so diametrically opposed can peacefully coexist is
part of Lushes mystery and allure. That duality extends to the
group's background. James Ardery and Joel Myers were living in
worlds far removed from music, both working day jobs that
neither of them enjoyed. Their personalities were different -
James was outspoken and gregarious, Joel introverted and
reserved. Their musical backgrounds were different: James grew
up pillaging his father's record collection, getting turned on to
Nirvana and Wu-Tang Clan by his older brother and attending
hardcore shows by pioneering bands like Fugazi at 12 years old.
Joel was formally trained, loving classical music but almost
completely oblivious to rock and pop. The fusion of their disparate
influences is what animates Lushes - the anarchy of punk and
hardcore colliding with the precision of jazz to create music that is
marvelously ordered while still feeling seconds away from
detonation. That tension pulses throughout What Am I Doing, the
group's warring influences making for music that feels brittle and
vital.
track listing:
01. Harsh
02. One Right Word
03. Traffic
04. Warm Contagion
05. Dead Girls
06. Feastin
07. Garden