A contemporary of fellow fuzz-punk lumineries like Ty Segall and Mikal Cronin, The Cairo Gang’s Emmett Kelly returns with a new project under his own moniker, “Untouchable”. There’s an unmistakable confidence in his voice, and it’s a primary focal point throughout this record. While the band’s 2015 LP “Goes Missing” utilized a nomadic recording process to help shape a record that sounded equally as mired in wanderlust, “Untouchable” revels in a generally lo-fi mix that sits well with the record’s found-sound ambiance—another nod to Kelly’s nomadic muses. Overall, Kelly has raised the stakes on this album, fully embracing some of the more outwardly power-pop sensibilities he’d hinted at in previous records.
“Tiny Rebels”, from an album by the same name, performed by The Cairo Gang, A film by Angel Olsen
Tiny Rebels is a new collection of songs by The Cairo Gang. They are about awareness. They show a new economy in the work of The Cairo Gang’s leader Emmett Kelly, conjuring up quick and defined songs un-housed in the shimmering of two burning electric 12-string guitars. the sound of them a swirling desert night sky under which songs call to arms multiple voices that long to be freed from the contraints of song. to be re-blooded in a frenzy of hard hitting drums and bass. all the while set against a wild array of compressed overtones that jangle by the hand of Kelly’s inversly delicate touch.
In The Cairo Gang’s previous efforts The Corner Man and the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy collaboration The Wondershow of the World, Kelly displayed a heaviness in subtlety. The songs laboured over and performed so that the fire and rage were things to play in tandem with, as a pranaic exercise even. the result is audience for a certain type of in-tuneness, that although powerful and realized, nurture both the playing and the fire and the rage… this can be a dangerous place. this leads to Tiny Rebels. Recorded in a week, it is an epiphany of sorts. it is the boiling point that which Kelly surrendered to in one sense, but obliterated in another. the songs are empowering leaps of faith:
“Say what you want, babe. dont just sit and listen to what you are told. you’ve got what it takes.
Lord knows the only way that can suit you well.”
And from that leap they fall at a speed..
The sound of this record is what distinguishes it the most from previous works. Each song has the same instrumentation. two electric 12-string guitars, bass, and drums, with many voices often double tracked exciting a gorgeous spring reverberation and cut fiercely onto quarter inch tape. always in the red and fighting for space, the layers are deeply compressed and pulsating, creating an un-ease that fluctuates as if the listener is in a vacuum, pushing and pulling. or a wave pool. when cranked, it sounds as if there is music happening beyond the music. in the abstraction of the guitar sound. in the spacial irrecognition of the tape and reverb. the non-presence of the drums.. the jagged tremoloes. The Cairo Gang has armed itself well on this record. turn it up loud and let it wash over you like an ocean.
Label: Empty Cellar
Track Listing:
Side A: Tiny Rebels / Take Your Time / Shake Off
Side B: Shivers / Father Of The Man / Find You With A Song
The Fat Angel Sings 