CD Review: R. Garcia — Resurgens

R. Garcia
Resurgens
Nophi

By Ellen Eldridge

The thing to like most about Resurgens, after the swelling with pride of discovering another Atlanta-based gem subsides, is simply the outstanding complexity of the layers and variance among tracks. When I first listened, I jumped around through the tracks a bit. Others may also feel a bit put-off by the heavy dose of electronic stratum, but after a few minutes the grasp of the content takes hold. For me, personally, the hooks pierced into flesh during the chorus vocals of Crystal Dawn Baker in “Your Middle Name.” During the verses, Stephanie Clayton’s voice holds attention with the words “I will see your face again and become your middle name,” then the intensity of the chorus against the pulse of the drums brings a steadier rock feel to the otherwise electronic song. Not that the electronic quality takes anything away from the music; the complexity lies in not knowing quite how to describe it.

“I Was a Feather” further forged my love for Resurgens because of its build-up. The exposition of the song builds on its slow start musically. The first 10 seconds drift by as one would expect when waking to the sound of an alarm clock. In fact, the idea of listening to the entire album as a soundtrack to a dream fits when trying to compartmentalize this song. The echoing idea of the song appears as the first minute flows into the second. The line, “black mascara and tight red pants, she saw the city in the distance,” bleeds onto the amped backbeat that has grown from a quietly ringing alarm to a stomping of feet in the hall with fists bared to pound the wall if the listener doesn’t wake up. Loving the simple poetry in the lyric, “I was a feather when I fell for you,” leads to a not-so-simple analogy of the innocence of love changing with the wisdom of time.

Try to categorize Randy Garcia’s 10th full-length album, Resurgens; it won’t be easy. To lump it in with industrial electronic or dubstep music would be to force a square peg in a round hole. The pop melodies and rock pulses don’t mesh with typical songs in either category, yet all these ideas work within the songs. Splotches of blues and patterns of new wave emerge along this very surreal soundtrack. “Probability” stretches its sonorous yet scratchy chords against the wailing melody. It feels like something Thom Yorke would dance to uninhibitedly. Resurgens reawakens the mood of a David Lynch movie while driving fast on a wet and twisted country road; the kind of road where a streetlight is needed. Listen to it intently and give it time to catch you with its claws. Once hooked you’ll want more.