Filed under: Features
Confession time: way back during the simpler times of the early ’90s, I went through an extended phase of shoegaze mania. Actually, “mania” might be understating it. Eating it, breathing it, sleeping it, living it, et al are far more accurate. I mildly cringe when I think about it now; not necessarily because of the alarming depth of my obsession, but more from the fact that I spent exorbitantly disgusting amounts of money for items like Slowdive’s early vinyl EPs to the first Pale Saints 12″ to scores of faceless, unmemorable bands that I picked up simply because a random blurb mentioned a Verve comparision in it somewhere. What’s really disheartening is that, with a few exceptions, much of it hasn’t aged well for me at all. Lush’s debut Spooky (1992) used to give me chills; now I find it pleasantly dull. I used to get worked up into a delighted frenzy over the mere thought of Chapterhouse’s Whirlpool (1991); now I turn it off halfway through. And don’t even get me started on Curve. I expected a similar reaction when I chose Texas space-rockers 7% Solution to accompany me on my drive home from work the other night. Nothing could have been more opposite; I was so enraptured that I don’t remember the journey home at all. (Perhaps I shouldn’t recall this anecdote so fondly, but I digress.)
7% Solution formed back in ‘93 in Austin by guitarist and vocalist Reese Beeman and second guitarist James Adkisson, and included drummer Scott Sasser and bassist Dwyne Moore. Their first record, titled All About Satellites and Spaceships (1996) after a series of children’s books, is a self-produced and self-released dreampop gem that incorporated a novel idea: the band had twice as many discs as they did sleeves, so they included a second extra disc in the insert to “give to a friend.” This approach is exactly how I received my copy; my good friend Trinitone was addicted to Parasol mail orders at the time, who had highly lauded the group. Lyrically, All About Satellites is a loose concept album about separation and isolation, but since the vocals are wholly buried in the mix, what really stands out is the overall sound. And what a glorious sound it is.
Any guitarist who can achieve a tasteful incorporation of the E-bow into their playing scores automatic points with me, but not only do both guitarists utilize it well, Adkisson plays through not one, but two Digitech Whammy pedals from his effects arsenal. Add to the equation the fact that his approach was more textural and less note-oriented, and the result is a thick, swirling cauldron of sound as dense as an ocean fog, with flurries of pitches pealing into the stratosphere. Adkisson’s ability to transform his Fender Strat into a sky-sawing synth is reminicent of Pat Metheny’s work in the early ’80s or the more melodic side of Robert Fripp, but with more of an emphasis on molasses-like drones, whale songs and bird calls, and replications of a string orchestra.
“Revolve” was one of the more popular and relatively “straight-forward” tracks on the disc, opening with a pinging guitar line that provides the foundation for the song, along with some noticeably fluid drumming from Sasser. Beeman contributes to the druggy, delayed soundscape by repeating each lyric once, and at 1:44 the swell of E-bowed guitars acts as a chorus, rising and falling with each bar. At 4:11 he begins a lovely finger-picked solo based around octaves that is expertly fitting in the production, then the wave crests and crashes onto the shore for the final chorus as Beeman intones hypnotically, “I miss you so.”
“Revolve” – 7% Solution 7:07 (All About Satellites and Spaceships, X-Ray 1996)
The band really lets loose on the whirlwind-like “Built on Sand,” an early album highlight and one of the noisier excursions here. Sasser’s drums are the most prominent instrument in the mix, his cymbals ricocheting off the howling wall of drones and Beeman’s drowning vocals. Suddenly the skies clear at 1:54 as the guitars gently cycle through a melody and Sasser begins a rumbling tom pattern. Anyone familiar with R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant (1986) will perk their ears upward at Beeman’s lyrics here. The climax occurs near the end as Adkisson rips sirens of glistening feedback from his guitar, the rest of the band swarming in ecstasy.
“Built on Sand” – 7% Solution 6:28 (All About Satellites and Spaceships, X-Ray 1996)
All About Satellites and Spaceships was enough to establish 7% Solution as a sizeable contributor to the American shoegaze scene, but the band released one last album before the end of the decade, 1999’s Gabriel’s Waltz. A more subdued, introspective record, Gabriel’s Waltz lacks the some of the fire and restless exploratory nature of the debut, but is a remarkable and mature statement nonetheless. Inspired by the poetry of Anne Sexton, most of the tracks are in 3/4 or 6/8 time, misleading many listeners into thinking that the group was trying to compile an album of waltzes in the traditional sense. “Carousel” is a detailed, circular instrumental that signals their broadening musicality and the advanced interplay between band members. Beeman establishes a watery guitar loop while Adkisson layers E-bow on top, and Sasser sounds like he’s in heaven with a tempo like this. Subsequent bands like Chicago’s The Timeout Drawer would take this sound and run with it wholeheartedly.
“Carousel” – 7% Solution 4:54 (Gabriel’s Waltz, X-Ray 1999)
7% Solution disbanded in 2004, with Adkisson, Beeman, and Sasser forming Sickert with Lisa Lipkin and Adkisson also playing with psychedelic instrumentalists A Five and Dime Ship. He also manages the band’s MySpace page, which includes some excellent and revealing blog entries on the group’s history, individual songs, and recording process.
