Polyphonic Spree?

distantplanet · Post by **distantplanet** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 3:20 pm

OK, I really don't know much about this band and wanted to get some opinions. I know they are coming out with a new album shortly. Do they suck? Are they great? Is the whole "gospel thing" a big rip-off of Jason's work? Just curious what you all think? I know the lead singer was previously with Tripping Daisy and that they are based out of Texas and have a traveling Gospel Choir as part of the band. That's about all I know. Theatrics aside, it all boils down to the quality and originality of the music -- and Spiritualized can only be imitated, never duplicated.

Polyphonic Spree

-dp

flamingrev · Post by **flamingrev** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:35 pm

I haven't heard their newest, titled "Together We're Heavy." I got their first mainly because of the buzz and hype but it was pretty dissapointing. The main guy has a serious thing for Wayne Coyne, and Tripping Daisy (which seriously sucked) and the Spree both have strong Flaming Lips inclinations. I personally love the Lips, but to hear a watered down version of them isn't so appealing. The critics are saying that this new album is way better than the first, but they kind of rub me the wrong way. It's not awful, but it ain't anything to plunk down your hard earned cash on either. I bet it's pretty fun in concert though.

As far as a Spiritualized influence, I don't really see it. It's more Flaming Lips crossed with Jesus Christ Superstar.

jbc

distantplanet · Post by **distantplanet** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:51 pm

Maybe it was their "gospel" choir (and overt spiritual reference) thing that warranted my comparison to Spiritualized? I listened to a few sound clips off their Website (and read some of their lyrics) -- and frankly, it's more like "The Partridge Family meets Jim Jones -- ala The People's Temple". Music aside, these people are downright weird in a Waco sort of way. Lock me in a padded white room with some lithium and shrooms and they might grow on me. In this case, I think I'll pass on drinking the aural Kool-Aid.

-dp

Zippy · Post by **Zippy** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:59 pm

I saw an ad for their album on tv and thought, "This has to be a joke."

Horrorflick · Post by **Horrorflick** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:49 am

Yeah, the ad pretty much nixed them for me. All those weird, happy people with their arms up in the air. It looked like a revival or something. Shit like that gives me the creeps. That, and they remind me of the 5th Dimension. Has anybody ever seen "Hair", or "Jesus Christ, Superstar"? What the fuck!!?? (Besides, if there's a harp on stage, there will be no rocking.)

Post by **spzretent** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:28 am

two words-

Tripping Daisy.

same effect as an ice cold bucket of water down your pants.

jess farr · Post by **jess farr** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 3:10 am

my friend steven was in the choir for a couple of years, but was kicked out for being an "individual"
apparently the robes arent just for show, very cultish, so the Jonestown references arent that far off. the guys wife is even in the band.
also Tim(singer) makes everyone sign a contract that says if you come up with a part in a song, he still owns 100% of the music. steven said alot of stuff from the first album was written by several members, but at the end of the day he owns the publishing. so more than a few disgruntled ex-members out there. buncha other stupid shit too but, like spzretent said:

tripping daisy

spliffboy · Post by **spliffboy** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:27 am

I've seen the spreee live 3 times now and every time they were fantastic............their first album does not do their songs justice, they have to be heard live................
I'm shocked about the negative things posted here ( such as Tim taking 100% credit for song writing) but I have to say I love them and think that they are one of the best live acts around....certainly my favourite of the moment!

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 9:59 am

have to agree there! I think they are an amazing live band and the new album is genius. Dont really understand the criticism?

distantplanet · Post by **distantplanet** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 3:15 pm

Spliffboy and Simonkeeping -- don't mind us naysayers. You are certainly entitled to your opinion. As always, music is a very personal thing and can be an extremely polarizing subject. Say what you will of Jason's music: sad, dark, full of despair -- what have you. But at least it is real. When I listened to the Polyphonic Spree, it did have a certain contrived "carnival side show" feeling to it. By donning the white robes and taking on a hippy flower-child persona, they have essentially become a laughable caricature of themselves. On the flipside, I'm sure they do put on a reasonably good live show and their "Godspell meets the Partridge Family" vibe is somewhat intriguing in a roadkill sort of way. I still prefer music with a darker edge to it, but maybe that's just the devil in me.

The Polyphonic Spree is definitely music for the Prozac Nation...

-dp

Leggy Mountbatten · Post by **Leggy Mountbatten** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 3:25 pm

distantplanet wrote:...contrived...they have essentially become a laughable caricature of themselves...

Were they ever anything more than a gimmick?

In a way I hope not. The alternative (a real proper Helter Skelter type 'family'), is too scary, almost.

Wooooo!

brenteboy · Post by **brenteboy** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:35 pm

HEY!The Spree are more than just a joke, i mean have you ever been to see them?Yes they are a bit pompous and the clan thing is something none of us normal people will probably understand but it is a seriously good way to spend an evening,especially if where they are playing is very small a)cos they have trouble fitting on the stage all at once and b)cos it makes the gig alot more personal,which is good when they have a lot to give musically.The albums are ok but to get a real handle on what they are about it's best to go see em.Simple as!

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:08 pm

Spiritualized for the under 5's...

...minus the wit, talent and of course the freeform noise freakouts.

And the 'subtle' druggggggz references.

My mates got a real kick at their gig... but they were fucked up on grass.

What do all six hundred and sixty six members do onstage exactly?

Most just seem to shake their hands like the madcap fools that they are.

People like DeLaughter, and that twit from the Flaming Lips disturb me.... and worry me.

Like the people who accost you on the street, and tell you that the earth is about 3000 years old... "because thats the ages of The Bible characters added up...."

WOULD YOU LET YOUR DAUGHTER JOIN THE SPREE?

I'm sorry if you find this offensive....

spliffboy · Post by **spliffboy** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 2:09 pm

perhaps I'm being very naive but i rather like the spree's 'lets all get along and love each other' message........shouldn't we all be doing a bit more of that??????

perhaps it is the hippy ideal repackaged in tecnicolour robes for the MTV generation but even if only a few people feel the love, hasn't it done some good?

(it should be known that one of my (many) failings is that i take people at face value far too often........wel that's how i define my gullibilty................ so I wonder if some of you are being a little too harsh on the spree...........but then a gullible fool like me would say that wouldn't they!

distantplanet · Post by **distantplanet** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:06 pm

spliffboy wrote:perhaps I'm being very naive but i rather like the spree's 'lets all get along and love each other' message........shouldn't we all be doing a bit more of that??????

spliffboy, that is wishful thinking at best. Have you ever been to a musical gathering of "so-called" hippies. Take away their tie-die shirts, veggie fajitas, hemp jewelry and Guatemalan hacky sacks, and these people are closed-minded, opinionated, judgmental, paranoid, in-tolerant, selfish, hypersensitive pricks just like all the rest of us. If the 60s was defined by "free love" and "just causes", then the new millennium will be defined as the "dawn of the asshole" -- where even Phish fans and so-called peace-loving poser hippies turn against each other like caged Rottweilers. Not until the water authority starts spiking our water supply with Ecstasy do I expect a major shift in this paradigm. I hate to disappoint you Rodney King, but no..."we can't all just get along."

...I don't know spliffboy...maybe I've been flipped off one too many times by that little old lady driving on her way to church.

-dp

Leggy Mountbatten · Post by **Leggy Mountbatten** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:42 pm

Musically: agree on the whole they are ...quite fun

. There was a cd out recently by this school choir, where the music teacher had arranged all these groovy tunes (Ziggy Stardust ect). They sort of remind me of that idea, but playing Flaming Lips /mercury Rev type tunezzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Yes, all these cults SEEM good, but they all end in mass weddings in football stadia/turning against yr mum and dad at best...having you all kill yerselves cause the aliens are coming/descending from the desert riding stolen dune buggies in the wake of a self-provoked race war at worst.

Ever wonder why they all seem to come atcha when you're at a low ebb, and seem to boost your self esteem?

THAT's why you'll find me under the stairs wearing a tinfoil hat...

distantplanet · Post by **distantplanet** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 5:13 pm

Sounds like a screenplay possibility for a new Mel Gibson movie -- "The Passion of Spree". Funny commentary Leggy Mountbatten...

-dp

simonkeeping · Post by **simonkeeping** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 5:16 pm

Was that album the langley schools project? if it is how good is the Carpenters cover! Calling occupants of interplanetary craft"? Quality! Seriously reminder me of Spiritualized...

Im well up for starting a cult though! All i need is some cheap tracksuits in purple for the 'followers' to wear and it will be rocking...

Leggy Mountbatten · Post by **Leggy Mountbatten** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 10:05 am

In fact...I'd love to hear them do a version of Sonic Youth's Death Valley '69. If I won the lottery, I'd consider paying for it to happen.

Coming down
Sadie I love it
Now now now
Death valley 69
You're right you're right you're right
I was on the wrong track
We're deep in the valley
How deep in the gulley
And now in the canyon
Way out in the yonder
She started to holler
I didn't wanna
I didn't wanna
But she started to holler
So I had to hit it
Hit it, hit it, hit it
Deep in the valley
In the trunk of an old car
I got sand in my mouth
And you got sun in yr eyes
Blinded
And you wanted to get there
But I couldn't go faster
I couldn't go faster
I couldn't go faster
So I started to hit it
I started to hit it
Hit it
Hit it

hmmm.

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 5:15 pm

I have to say, I really gave Polyphonic Spree a chance. I bought the first album after hearing the hype and Spiritualized comparisons and was greatly disappointed. I can see the appeal, but like Secret Machines, it just doesnâ€™t seem like they have the songs to back up the sound. The one song I have heard from the new one hasnâ€™t changed my mind.

Does anyone ever listen to http://www.kexp.org â€¦ an online station out of Seattle, WA? Itâ€™s commercial free and quite good.

burdman72 · Post by **burdman72** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:03 pm

for those of you who actually like em, thought you might enjoy this:
http://www.rebernak.com/adamFoley/pps2003.06.14/

Horrorflick · Post by **Horrorflick** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:40 am

Yep. This is all just too creepy for me. What ever happened to people's right to just live, let live and do whatever the fuck they want to as long as nobody else gets hurt (too bad)? Nobody is that happy, and if they are, well they shouldn't be. That "you're in 100% or you're out" bullshit gives me the CREEPS. There's only one man I'd sign away all my creativity to, and well, you all know who that is...

Horrorflick · Post by **Horrorflick** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 11:42 pm

It's kind of stupid, but I just thought of who they really remind me of. Has anybody seen the movie "A mighty wind"? The "New mainstreet singers"! That's who these guys remind me of, and that's why they give me the all-out creeps. People like that need to be slapped until their optimism comes down a notch or two...

Alex English · Post by **Alex English** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 6:04 am

I quite liked the Spree show I saw in Boulder about a year and a half ago. But I will tell you what they really are: subliminal spliff Christianity. After all, Tim Delaughter is on a quest to find his Christian Soldier Girl. There is an acapella group at Brandeis University called The Hebrew-Phonic Brandeisans. They sing a song called Kosher Girl about gefilte fish, Entenmanns' Cookies, and progressive jurisprudence.

ro · Post by ro » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:27 am

so, from that other thread, Purespace, did you make the gig in Detroit?
I've never heard them.
What was it like?
A friend of mine said they used to walk singing through the streets of Brooklyn. with tambourines..

twentysixdollars · Post by **twentysixdollars** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:37 am

In answer to the question posed by the subject line of this thread, I answer No.

Stuart X.Hunter · Post by **Stuart X.Hunter** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:10 am

ro wrote: A friend of mine said they used to walk singing through the streets of Brooklyn. with tambourines..

Interesting...allbeit totally plagarised!

Nobody ever heard of the Mexican Muchachas?
Doubt it.
They were a band of kids who got f*cked up on grass, hallucinogens and whatever was in Mr & Mrs Wa**ells drinks cabinet. They would don outfits in keeping with there "inner-self"; cops, cowboys, arab sheiks, mexicans, american indians or punks, basically whatever was in young Mstr Wa**ells 'dress-up' box. Next they would choose instruments, again in keeping with there 'inner-self'; bongos, guitars, shakers, trumpets, tambourines and other various non-musical/musical props.
When suitably trashed, a procession would commence (normally during daylight hours) from the Wa**ell family home, down past the Salmon Leap up to Brancumhall Rec. and back to the Wa**ell family home.
They were notorious...N-N-Notorious.
There identities were never revealed and many locals thought that they were affiliated with the Midnight Lamp-posting Crew who would topple lamposts in an act of defiance against there 'shadowed spaces' being illuminated. They believed that there should be privacy in public places and thus descended 'well-to-do' housing estates into darkness.
Whilst there message was one borne out of as much frustration at there surroundings it was also steeped in unity and camaraderie, however the reverie they had, that they actually meant something on a grande scale, within there society quickly succumbed to the idea that they were purely degenrates.
A new approach was adopted; mainly to 'highlight' to the local community the neccesity to be at all times vigilant to the threat of harmful activities that could occur should a callous attitude be approached to security.
Thus the Early AM Hotel Creepers and the Ch-Ch-Check your Locks Crew came about.

Hedspace · Post by **Hedspace** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:52 pm

I heard someone say once:
The Polyphonic Spree sound like the Flaming lips performing a really bad version of Kum ba yah

I agree.
Cant stand em.
Someone should hide their stash of Daz.

Gruff · Post by **Gruff** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:33 pm

I gave them a chance-I bought 'Hanging around' purley because of the Spiritualized mention.

Dissappointed. No more than that. I don't hate them but the whole thing sounds a bit... what's the name of theat one-hit-wonder school choir number one? ST winifrids' CHoir with we love granny or something?

That's all I could hear in my head. Didn't like it much. I'd compare it to the Zappa LSO recordings where most of the time your thinking "where are the 100+ members? I can only hear 2 at a time..."

purespace · Post by **purespace** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:56 pm

Hey ro! Yep, I made the trip down to Motown to catch the Spree a few weeks ago. Never owned any of their albums, just heard Light and Day on the TV and few others on myspace. So I spun the wheel after a few on here said "go" so I WENT. I gotta tell ya, I could not get that smarmy GRIN off my face. 3/4 through the show, I was grinning like a mad bastard!!! Yeah, Partridge Family/Cult/Robe/Flaming Lips/ blah blah blah comparisons, but I just fucking LOVED IT. From the confetti guns blasting the audience. strobes, disco ball, 20+ people on stage, string section, brass section, 2 drummers, HARP PLAYER, guitars, theremin, 6 person backup singers dancing wild, the music making me feel like I'd taken two ecstasy tabs. the girl dancing in front of me who pulled MY hands out of my pockets and threw them up in the air in a moment of complete elation, the 70 year olds standing next to the hippie parents with their 5 year old son standing next to the hipster rolling a joint, the mixed crowd and utter happiness of it all. Maybe it's just what I need at the time. something HAPPY, something SIMPLE something UPLIFTING and JOYFUL? They were ON IT and snuck into my head and heart. Second encore had them in them marching through the audience from the back of the venue in their white robes (main show had them in black military style jackets & pants)

I've since purchased their 1st 2 releases and am glad I got them on Amazon for under $5 each as recordings apparently do NOT do them justice (who in the fuck is producing their shit? horrible). Certainly it's music to be experienced LIVE. VERY glad I went because ecstasy hasn't been round these parts in YEARS. I'd definitely see them again because it was FUN, just leary of the recordings.

a beautiful noise · Post by **a beautiful noise** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:36 pm

ahhh, i'm really bummed, we decided on getting tickets for lee scratch perry instead of the spree.

i've only heard the first album and was rather impressed with the produciton on that considering how many people are involved. they are signed to someone pretty big so i would assume a bit of $$$ was tossed at them to record.

anyways, thanks for the great live review, i'm really jealous i missed it.
DAMN!

me.

runaway · Post by **runaway** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:03 am

They suck so much that I'm not even going to bother posting the obligatory smarmy comparison to some other fake group that sucks.

toomilk · Post by **toomilk** » Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:18 pm

My roommates went to their show a few days ago and said it was one of the best shows they've ever seen.

alan_cohaul · Post by **alan_cohaul** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:24 pm

I liked the Polyphonic Spree at first. I bought the first album. It had some good moments. Being a Flaming Lips fan for a long time, the Spree kind of wore thin on me.....that's one of those times where you get into a band because they sound like one of your favorite bands, and then you end up not liking them so much because of the similarities. I imagine that they'd be pretty great live, though!

warmgun. · Post by **warmgun.** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:15 pm

I also heartily endorse the Polyphonic Spree - and I haven't even seen them live yet... just recorded footage. I'm also finally getting into their new album!

Agreed on much that's been said here. As well as the 3 lps, I'd also suggest the Thumbsucker sountrack for fans. With the exception of a few (really nice) Elliott Smith covers, the Spree provide a score, as well as some really great songs that stand up to any of the album material...

Finally, fans of The Polyphonic Spree should also check out the Langley School Music Project, which at points sounds like a template for the Spree... with moments of pure joy, innocence, naivety, beauty, etc...

The album was reissued (receiving mild hype) in the early 00's and featured a bunch of British Columbia elementary school kids playing hits of the day under the direction of their music teacher. For more info, check out the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Langle ... ic_Project

Zenchan · Post by **Zenchan** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 9:30 pm

Seen them live many times, the first being at Glasgow Green 2002 (the day after Spiritualized headlined the tent) before their album had came out. Absolutely magical live.

Spiritualized

Polyphonic Spree?

Polyphonic Spree?

polyphonic spree

Don't Drink The Kool-Aid!

Don't Drink The Kool Aid...

Re: Don't Drink The Kool Aid...

Can't We All Just Get Along?

DV69

spree live