by osmosis

To figure that the new disc from the Intelligence is pop oriented would be a pretty abysmal calculation. But when considered in light of its 2007 In the Red Records release of Deuteronomy, that perception might be at least valid within the sphere of the Intelligence’s catalog.

Lars Finberg’s trek through Seattle rock and roll led him to found and record the Intelligence early in the 2000s. His music doesn’t exactly sound like what’s commonly associated with that scene at this point, but this fact only makes the Intelligence all the more bizarre.

The last disc, Deuteronomy, and Finberg’s best received release thus far, wasn’t really focused on anything near traditional song craft. But that was just part of the charm. The discs thirteen tracks whirred with digital manipulations and still somehow managed to come off as seemingly tied to some lo fidelity concept of what garage rock is supposed to be. The electric guitar helped.

On Fake Surfers, while there’s still a bit of that electric guitar to spread around, those hip enough to grasp the differences are going to immediately find the fact that there are a number of songs that sport some folksy strummed acoustic guitar. It doesn’t make the Intelligence a buncha has beens, including the instrument just expands the palette a bit.

“Warm Transfers,” might make listeners think differently, though. The laid back minor key track, while still sporting some of the electrified, confusing guitar work that’s come to be a hallmark of the Intelligence, doesn’t sound like the same group from Deutoronomy. The song, when listened to after either “Pony People” or Thee Oh Sees style stomp of “Debt & ESP” works a bit better. So is sequencing an issue here?

Probably not.

But all of this does get a bit aurally confusing as “Universal Babysitter” sounds like it features East Bay Ray on guitar. About thirty seconds into the track, it’s just plain surprising not to hear Jello. Each of these musical tactics to expand the musical lexicon of the Intelligence might end up spreading the band’s name around. But it can’t ever be concluded that the Intelligence has decided to sell out or move on. Finberg and his current cohort just, at this moment, want to record a clutch of tunes that, while tied to its previous work, moves the band past what folks think the Intelligence should be doing.