Action Friend

With enough breakneck shifts in tone, style and pacing to confuse and confound anyone looking for more conventional songwriting, Action Friend's debut clearly has its roots in the wildly experimental guitar music of John Zorn. This can be disconcerting to anyone not willing to follow the band's sharp turns through...

By Tom Murphy

August 21, 2008

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With enough breakneck shifts in tone, style and pacing to confuse and confound anyone looking for more conventional songwriting, Action Friend's debut clearly has its roots in the wildly experimental guitar music of John Zorn. This can be disconcerting to anyone not willing to follow the band's sharp turns through its virtuostic instrumentals. Although music like this can often seem more fun to play than it is to listen to, Action Friend isn't worshipping the limp imaginations of false guitar gods. Each song is an experiment in sound, texture, tone and jazz structures that shares an aesthetic with electronic collage bands. If you listen closely enough, you'll hear the Melvins' Dale Crover's percussive contributions, but the multi-layered songwriting is all Action Friend.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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