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Listening to Rubble Guts and BB Eye, it is hard not to be excited for Tim DeLaughter. On one hand, the sound of Preteen Zenith marks his return to a more straightforward rock setting. Versus the sound of his most recent project, The Polyphonic Spree, this is a rock band.
Yet Preteen Zenith is not a return to DeLaughter’s roots. The precedent of Tripping Daisy notwithstanding (eschew the band’s masterpiece, Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb; it’s too obvious a starting point. Instead, go all the way back to early track “Prick”), but DeLaughter’s never gone this way before. Underneath the scaled-back look of Preteen Zenith, there’s a psychedelic side that he’s only ever hinted at on previous records. Rubble Guts appears first on vinyl, and it is a record that is meant for vinyl. Two sides, containing a handful of songs, cloistered together in only the way a twelve inch record can cloister them.
Nor should Preteen Zenith be singularly considered DeLaughter’s band. The story—and sound—of Rubble Guts owes much to longtime friend Philip Karnats (formerly of Tripping Daisy and Secret Machines, as well as occasional Spree partner) who took a handful of leaked acoustic DeLaughter demos (sneakily given to him by DeLaughter’s near-lifelong creative and spiritual partner, Julie Doyle) and decided to work his own special magic. The two scurried away, and the result impressed all who heard it.
Quiet in the loud parts and loud in the quiet parts, the nine songs ebb and flow, back and forth, a listening experience that comforts and uplifts in a delicate manner, even though you’re listening at maximum volume. DeLaughter’s specialty-in-trade of sing-a-longs such as “Relief” and “Maker” rest alongside gentle, tender, heady psychedelic numbers like “Life” and “Overcome.” But then, on “Meat” and “Peddling,” they just go all weird on you, making you wonder just what those two were up to when they were recording this in their remote log cabin studio.
Yet if one were to boil the listening experience of Rubble Guts into a single adjective, the most appropriate choice would be: unhurried. Take your time. Turn it up. Listen to it loud. It’s a soft record that demands to be played at maximum volume; it sounds great blasting loudly as you drive down the highway, and it sounds equally great on your headphones in your bedroom on a sultry Spring evening.
Rubble Guts and BB Eye contains nine loud, joyous lullabies to life, to nature, to the sky, to something greater than you or I. It’s up to you, dear listener, to determine what that may be. Preteen Zenith isn’t going to answer that question, but they will nicely soundtrack your journey as you go along your life’s path.
