couch are capable of creating moments of true beauty. a keyboard melody here, a guitar rhythm there – instrumental post-rock at its very best.

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couch – profane

a whole bunch of german bands gained recognition in the united states a few years back thanks to labels like trance syndicate, thrill jockey, and mute. couch is kind of like the caboose in that train of bands, the last one to make the trip over, standing out a bit from the rest due to its different purpose and form. all these bands are sort of electronic, sort of pop, and sort of experimental, but couch fits in much more cleanly with the type of bands already playing in the united states, post-rock rock bands. their use of groove and, to a lesser extent, texture links their sound with their countrymen, but the instruments they use and the sounds they create are more like a band from chicago. couch’s new lp, profane, is the band’s first album simultaneously released in both germany and the united states. while couch stands out as the rock band in a bunch of bands that don’t really try to rock, profane makes some attempts to remove the rock, blurring the line between them and a band like kreidler. for example, guitars are not used in some tracks, strings and horns are added to others. some songs are standard keyboard and guitar driven rock songs like on their previous album fantasy while others attempt to be something else (“doch endlich” uses strings to create a brooding mood-fest, and “was alles hä” is light background music made by only keyboards). these changes in style make the album more varied, for sure, as the band’s fantasy was just short enough to not start to sound samey, and the band manages to make these modifications without altering or ruining their rock songs. in other words, they don’t sell out by making wholesale changes, only minor modifications and experiments. for instance, it would be easy for the band to say, “let’s just start using drum machines and totally try to sound like to rococo rot,” but they don’t–and it’s a good thing because thomas geltinger’s drumwork can be very inventive. he manages to use entirely live drumming but, at times, create a sound that is as textured as his fake-drumming contemporaries, whether it’s from a fast roll on the snare, sustained crashes on his hi-hat, or the distortion of poor recording. with all these changes, couch’s sound and purpose remains much the same. they are still “the” rock band of the group, and they still create a groove that makes you feel like you’re coasting through a vacuum–the groove has such forward momentum that you feel it could keep you coasting for all eternity with nothing to slow you down. it’s these moments where couch can create moments of true beauty, like in the fantastic track “12 sind nur 4.” after a quiet, very long intro, a keyboard melody and guitar rhythm explode, as if set in motion by some magnetic force, bringing you to their cruising velocity. the guitar and distorted cymbal crashes set the pace, as an organ creates a fluctuating tone as a backdrop for the simple but astonishingly beautiful melody from the keyboard. the song keeps flowing and flowing, subtly morphing as different instruments take the lead. it’s these moments where the sound couch creates kind of gets behind you and pushes you in the ass, making you move forward along with them, that make them a very good band. the momentum they create can be amazing. the band continues to evolve on profane, which makes the album a more interesting listen, but not necessary a more pleasing one–that great momentum they create has been part of their sound from the start.(jim steed / fakejazz.com)

mp3: finetunes

cd: kitty-yo popstore

couch – fantasy

the album starts out on solid footing with “ich bei davor.” with some echoed-out drumming and interplay between the bass and guitar before the keyboard comes in and drops a three note melody for awhile. after about a minute of what seems like slightly wandering playing, the four instruments pull together like someone tightening a seam and things start moving along at almost a giddy pace. if the first track was leaning more to the pop side of things, track two (“slogan”) leans more to the rock side with a fair amount of growl in the guitars and a bit more of a fever in the drums. there are several parts in the track where it drops off to nothing more than a quiet keyboard hi-hat skitter, then the track always leaps off again with enough of an edge to twist your arm into a bit of air-guitaring.the group also takes an approach on a couple tracks that resembles tortoise, like on the quiet and chiming “heimweg 78″ and the soft electronic plunks and guitar strummings on “ubrig.” it tends to resemble the work of the tortoise side-project directions in music even more than the main group, but the more inventive percussion and less of a pop music structure sort of lend itself to both groups. the group even rocks out proudly loudly to close out the release on the song, “gegen den” (which is also the longest track on the disc). after opening with nearly a minute of impending drums and guitar, things drop off into nice play between the guitar and bass again before the group locks into another nice groove. if you’re looking for a more conventional post rock outfit that has a touch of an electronic sound, but mainly sticks to the more classic instruments, this is the group for you. (www.almostcool.org)

mp3: finetunes

couch – etwas benutzen
this early release cements their postions in the german post-rock musical landscape.

mp3: finetunes | emusic