Following a cassette on Burger Records and a self-titled LP consisting of a single 41-minute epic, II is the third release by Aaron M. Olson's L.A. Takedown project, and the first recorded with a full band. The group take their name from a 1989 made-for-television crime thriller, and they aim to re-create the soundtracks of that era, but of course it doesn't sound like an exact facsimile. The group twist Krautrock and prog influences into their sound, and the arrangements and rhythmic patterns are complex and a bit suspenseful, but they still have a generally easygoing, beach-friendly feeling. The full-band upgrade means that there's less of an emphasis on synthesizers here than on past L.A. Takedown recordings, and a much more fleshed-out sound. In lieu of lyrics, Olson's guitar heroics take center stage, and at times he resembles a low-budget Brian May. The busier-sounding tracks, such as "Bad Night at Black's Beach," are sort of like a mellower West coast version of Goblin/Dario Argento disciples Zombi, and the imaginary film they seem to be scoring is filled with desert cruising and beach scenes rather than ghouls and gore. "L.A. Blue" starts out with sterile smooth jazz keyboards, and eventually blooms into a bouncy Afro-pop-influenced charmer. The album's shortest tracks are generally softer and slower, and seem to sway like lighter-ready power ballads, but they only seem to act as interludes or brief scenes rather than building into epic constructions. "Night Skiing" is a late-album highlight, with a dusky, David Axelrod-esque atmosphere similar to some of Grails' output, but with obtuse time signatures and plenty of rip-roaring guitar soloing. The album concludes with "The Last Thing...," a sad slow dance number with supremely lonely lyrics delivered by a vocoderized Olson. With II, L.A. Takedown have constructed a somewhat chilled but still frequently exciting vision of Los Angeles, rooted in the '80s but letting other eras and locales seep in.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo