Etwas Benutzen

Recorded before Bohm had joined the group, Etwas Benutzen finds the quartet -- Andreas Lang also contributes drums -- recording a fair debut for the Kitty-Yo label. For all the neo-Krautrock comparisons, understandable enough via geographical association, it's more accurate to describe Couch in terms of Slint. Like similarly instrumental-focused groups such as Mogwai, Couch takes a certain inspiration from the near-legendary Louisville collective and applies it to their own work, both in sound and in recording style. While the band and co-producer Mario Thaler aren't the second coming of Steve Albini, there's a similar emphasis on full-bodied drum recording, forceful bass, and mostly clean guitar lines. The end results, though not as groundbreaking as some label apologists would have it, are more than satisfying, bringing out the nervous, crisp energy and often surprising beauty of the Slint sound in duly appreciable ways. "Acht" demonstrates how Couch makes it all work: Soder's initial, repetitive guitar figure, low and brooding, sets the tone for almost two minutes before the full band suddenly kicks into a start-stop chug, a smart, quietly varying tradeoff worked throughout the rest of the song. The third track, "Kurze Farbe," shows Couch achieving its own results for the first time on Etwas. Soder's strong guitar work, an endless wave upwards, finds equal matching in the Heilrath/Geltinger rhythm smack, the total sounding like a politer version of Drive Like Jehu's similarly paced surge skywards. Other striking songs include the half-gentle, half-threatening chime and thump of "Limmer," with some excellent work by Heilrath, and "Kopf in Wetter," featuring downright spooky percussion from Geltinger, hollow beats like a nervous tic in the background. Again, none of it can be called truly unique, but it's more than fine listening for anyone that's run their copy of Spiderland into the ground.