Scan Hopper - Scan Hopper review

Year : 2009
Genre : Psychedelic Soft Rock
Label : Independent
Origin : United States
Official site : > - here - <

With its 2009 debut release, Scan Hopper showcases its profound fascination with the White Rabbit in the respective contexts of even milder-, yet not less interesting psy-rock rhetorics the second disc is testament of. This initial tendency is once again - such is the nature of retrospect - traded in for a more reckless narrative from time to time, yet, oddly enough, there are occasions by which the band wraps a seemingly perfectly good idea up in 2 minutes or less - as is the case, I feel, with track number 4, called "Notes for the Face (Plumage Rock)", for example. There are numerous other instances on the debut that seems to solidify this impression, and I will elaborate on it.

Despite the two years that separate the two contributions in the timeline of the reality fabric - (DON'T even) imagine the chaos that would ensue were you'd have to listen to ALL songs of the cosmos at once - the narrative similarities in the components of this double barreled psychedelic delicacy are notable and even welcomed. Read on to know more about this.

The music doubtless emerges triumphant once again - even retrospectively - in its endeavor to re-calibrate the attention span of Timothy Leary and the Simon & Garfunkel aficionado, and at least one of these feats should garner the appreciation of the most hardened troll, even. The demeanor, as noted, is more spaced-out this time around, with but a limited set of more upbeat tracks that seek to deviate from the exploration of inner environments. Hopefully you do the process on your own without parking a weapon in someone's virtual body. Virtual is real enough, anyway. In fact, it is as real as it ever gets, which brings forth the notion of novelty. The Terrence McKenna-ian (¿) novelty factor.

In 2009, Scan Hopper already has cultivated and resonated such a thorough and competent understanding of psychedelic beatnik chill, that the debut, as noted, exhibits the reoccurring tendency of wrapping perfectly good ideas up way too prematurely. What else could the reason be? The creator knew that the idea is viable, yet wasn't SO overtly impressed with it as to court it with any more creative potential than what the idea itself could stood for on its own merits. Sometimes you just really can't be bothered to take an idea on a sightseeing, knowing that you will have to BE there with IT, and you know you would get bored to the true death in its company at the middle of the trip.

Similarly, you can witness interesting lights being cast on eloquently shaped orthodoxies from time to time on this here debut, but then these ideas are ruthlessly dismissed, as they were poor prostitutes without any talent in their trade whatsoever. This act of quasi-humiliating the music by recognizing, acknowledging, exploiting then dismissing its charms and not wanting to do anything more with those, is a rather intriguing concept - because no one needs to be hurt in the process - that certainly seems more interesting to witness than it is to endure the prolonged exhibition of any given valid musical idea that is packed full of self-confidence and armed with an awareness of its own awesomeness with which it revolvers you AND revolves around you.

Great is the charm of repetition. But mild is the charm of what you repeat. This is only a complementary notion, as, in contrast, Scan Hopper deserves recognition of not being afraid of discreetly bitchslapping an idea that otherwise would get way too confident and would cultivate an arrogant type of "love" - the worst kind - for itself. In other words, in the context of certain debut songs, Scan Hopper shows the music only as long as it entertains its creator, which not necessarily is the sufficient time for the fresh observer of the creation. True enough, as creator, you might get accused of falling in love with your creation, but, if you are not, then why bother creating it at the first place? Seeking attention? Then don't whine when you are receiving it.

I suspect a secretive loathing for the presented idea itself. Q : Why else would you kill off a perfectly good idea in 2 minutes with the ruthless invocation of silence? A : Because silence has heard all songs already, and it just arrived. Good thing you are not in the habit of reading loud. Anyway, these audio-interruption-mines will not hinder you from revisiting those shorter declarations in case they manage to arouse your curiosity. The Scan Hopper project managed to remain faithful to itself from 2009 to 2011, and it still is easy to be open-minded towards the next installment of the ensemble, which, if the trends convey a pattern, is coming through a space-time rift near you.

Check out Scan Hopper's debut album at the official BandCamp site.

GyZ at Bandcamp.

If you want, check out my music

and / or

Buy me beer.