There’s not much about this band that isn’t a giant version of WTF?! But before we determine that such a statement can only bring about negative connotations, realize that a lot of WTF?! objects can sell for lots and lots of money and be declared as “revolutionary” and “artistic” and “rare genius.” I’m silently giggling to myself but perhaps after a few tracks off of the self titled collaboration of “genius,” you’ll appreciate just how indie these cats know how to sound. 
Honestly, this review would go nowhere without the explanation of their name: UUVVWWZ. Don’t be all normal and pronounce it out. Direct from an adorable illustration on both their blog and their Myspace, you’re supposed to say “double you, double vee, double double you, zee.” Or shorten it and call it the double unit, but not simply “double you” because they worry that’s too lonely. They are worry warts, the illustration tells you. Mmmkay.
Moving on, the album starts out with the calm, odd chanting of Teal Gardner, but if you manage to hold on for a minute more, you’ll be rewarded with some sultry drum beats and growling distortion. Without such atmospheric repetition you’d have nothing to get stuck in your head (“I like the blackberries/cause they cannot entangle me”) as you pass the fruit section of the grocery store, so accept it. For the rest of the album, don’t be alarmed when the acceptance could possibly turn to a slight adoration and suddenly, maybe it’s too much for you, and then you find out you just need it. The love-hate relationship with her shrilling could come at fever pitch on “Jap Dad”, where instruments go chaotic and she keeps right up. It’s also at that point when a younger, crazier Karen O seems channeled. Remember the frenzy of Fever To Tell? Haunting shrills and leaps and bounds, all out of a tiny little stage queen? You’ve got that here—or at least the potential of it. When they start getting a bit experimental – a bit “break the mold” – songs like “Trapezus” happen, and it might take an altered mind to understand anything that happens there. There are no rules. It’s as if they picked up instruments and said, “okay, everyone just follow everyone—now go!”
Luckily, the smooth and seductive “The Sun” could be the saving grace of this entire endeavor, because when a song sets a mood for the listener, you’ve got yourself a winner. The track begins with a taunting much like the hypnotic, epic Salma Hayek scene in From Dusk Till Dawn, and each note seems to tiptoe some elliptical dance. When the band finally lets it all go, a third into the song, you’re already in love with the southern influence and lingering swoon to even care that Gardner’s voice is in hyper-drive again.
Chords of the Deftones, hints of Bjork, and a more modern link to Deerhoof are all you need to know in order to decipher that this band is something only the artsy-est of art kids could discover. My prediction is that Saddle Creek made a good move (although seriously unpredicted) in taking them under their financially supported wing. Could this rugged power zap! bam! boom! movement be the new sound of ’10? Maybe, as long as the show can hold up to the intensity of rare genius. Oops. I said it.
UUVVWWZ will be released by Saddle Creek Records on July 7, 2009.
Tracklisting:
01. Berry Can
02. Shark Suit
03. Jap Dad
04. Neolaño
05. Castle
06. Green Starred Sleeve
07. Trapezeus
08. The Sun
09. Hum Jam
Written by: Heather Lumb
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