PRESS
Akron/Family | Review
www.stylusmagazine.com | Ethan White
Year end # 35
Dec 05I'll try to keep this simple. Akron/Family aren't from Akron, nor are they related. Listening to their music is like laughing, crying, crooning, swooning, sleeping, freaking, creaking, waiting, rocking, running, swimming, flying, drowning, leaving, and arriving, all at once. Equal parts joyous campfire sing-along, country-folky-classic rock, and lo-fi experimentation (dig the chair-as-instrument on 'Italy'), their self-titled debut is a sparkling mish-mash of gorgeous contradictions, culled from bedroom taping sessions and cunningly touched up with the help of Michael Gira, who signed them to his own Young God label, then enlisted them to be his backing band as Angels of Light. He also claims they're the best backing band he's ever had. For comparison's sake, imagine the Beta Band circa The Three EPs but American, or a distinctly human Animal Collective; then put this on, sit back, and discover something else entirely. Like I said‹simple.