Spahn Ranch

Architecture (Cleopatra)
by Chris Best

I saw Spahn Ranch three years ago in Boston over at the Causeway. They were late and went on last, and only had time to play three songs. My girlfriend and I were among the five people in the audience for the whole show, and by the time Spahn Ranch went on, we were the only people there. I still got their CD, Collateral Damage, and cranked it all the time. It was full of crunch-guitar samples and the effects-riddled voice of Athan Maroulis. I remember the effects distinctly, I saw him set up his processor and teased him about distorted vocals. He showed me that he wasn’t using distortion, but a wide variety of effects. The first album was amazing but I couldn’t find anything by them for a while, until I got this. I got home expecting crunching, pounding guitar samples and more weird voice crap, instead I got a weird technoesque album that I kinda dig. I say “kinda” because I’m really not too sure about this one. No, it’s not Athan’s vocals, they’re great. He doesn’t use any effects and carries a tune like a champ. I think it’s the music. It’s not bad, it’s just lacking. It’s very danceable, the beats are fast, I can groove with it, but for a while, I just couldn’t put my finger on what I thought was wrong with it. Technoesque, that’s it right there. They’ve added elements of a genre that don’t work all that well with the songs and makes them come out cheesy. There are some great tunes on this disc, but the electronica bits are stale and dated (as in techno circa 1990 or anything by 2 Unlimited). I don’t know what the guys were aiming for with this album and I don’t want to accuse them of hopping the electrowagon, but the songs don’t really have the feeling of everything else they’ve done. In short, this album has a lot of songs that were forced out before they were ready. I bet they still sound bitchin’ live, though.