Cassette Review // Nathan Ventura "Real Good Driver" (Crass Lips Records)

$5 //
https://puckerupmusic.bandcamp.com/album/real-good-driver //

"Real Good Driver" begins with these acoustic guitar sounds and beats.   It's this combination of the sharper/lighter side of acoustics mixed with the deeper/darker side of the beats which really creates the overall feeling of the first song.   It's like a drive at night and that isn't just because of the title. 

As we go into the second song there are these beats which make it feel cool but then the words are almost spoken during it like that song about taking a walk on the wild side.   The lyrics are "All of my life I've been this ghost"- which is a great hook, because who doesn't feel that way?- and then it goes into the title as well.   If there is such a thing as a dark acoustic genre out there then Nathan Ventura might fit into it, even though this song does kick in a bit louder and more electric.

Acoustic guitar notes ramble real quick and then there is this scraping sound, like some kind of metal on concrete, followed by beats and the vocals come back in a hypnotic way.   There are audio clips in here and this definitely feels like the type of song which could be found on "The Crow" soundtrack.  There is a PJ Harvey/Garbage way about it as well.    Through voice mails and people laughing, the electronics scramble as this one just seems to lose control.

Dark acoustics open up the flip side and then static comes through like a radio station which isn't quite coming in fully.    As the beats hit with the vocals, this song does seem more upbeat than what was heard on the first side.   Now, the lyrics do come out about the devil so it does have some darkness to it I suppose but it just doesn't have that same way about it that I hear on the other side.

We're into a funky song now, with some scrambles, about wanting to drink wine and clean your stove, which is something I think we can all relate with.   Look, no one wants to clean but it's something that needs to be done, so we might as well do it to music.   "The Symptoms I Exhibit" does come through more like hip-hop, which has its appearances throughout the cassette but this is the first time it really comes through this strongly.

"He's an idiot?" / "He is?" / "He seems it to me" is an interesting exchange as we then hear what is the title of the fifth song on the digital.   Drums come crashing as there is thrashing and just all around loud craziness.   The conversation is still being had and I'm not really sure where it's going but it is a good example of America.   Though the cassette doesn't say it, the last track is the last track on the digital and it makes me just feel like walking away is a solid way to end until starting all over again.