I Was Real

This is the duo's third album, now featuring an expanded line-up with extra guitars and percussion, saxophones, viola, upright bass and electronics. Rick Brown uses cranky percussion and ‘crude horns’, while Che Chen spirals six- and 12-string quarter-tone guitars. 75 Dollar Bill are ostensibly descended from the Saharan Touareg guitar style, although the opener ‘Every Last Coffee Or Tea’ also has a strange commingling with Celtic strutting, like a Fairport-Tinariwen crossover, overlaid with an NYC rock sensibility. Ensemble parts weave in a joyous swagger. Whorls gather form on ‘C or T – Verso’, instruments finding routes as an active drone rises. That was an interlude, but ‘Tetuzi Akiyama’ rocks and sways more, with a tension between its bass drum and snare relationship.

Some tracks have concise pop lengths, while others stretch out. The title-track involves a moody slink, making an extended crawl, though at nearly 17 minutes, it's perhaps a touch too reclined. Next up, the energy gets compressed for ‘WZN3’, with strong contributions from viola and saxophone, climaxing with the guitars flying off unhinged. 75 Dollar Bill really enjoy switching between catchy riffs and hanging drones, alternating these states, and on ‘WZN4’, they're at their most raggedly atonal extreme.