QUOTES
"Jones wails and vents beautifully… The spastic mood swings of poets and artists are captured perfectly with guitar staccato outbursts and chaotic song structures."
-Performer Magazine
"I have listened to 'Recorded' over and over again during the last week and I have not found something bad to say about it yet… In the end, I can only advise you to try to grasp a copy of this excellent record."
-Only Angels Have Wings
"Two Guys give up wonderful breakdowns amidst the time changes, giving a release to the tension. The record moves around enough so that one doesn't get bored, but not too much, where one can't focus. Recorded is an interesting and solid debut."
-All Music Guide
"While the Cameron brothers know when to keep things cool and ride out a particular thought, the duo enjoy creating math-oriented tunes that display their unpredictable and explosive musical tendencies… I can't say enough about Two Guys' musical skills."
-Splendid E-zine
FULL REVIEWS
It’s time to hand over the keys. We are getting near the summer break and the webzine’s reviewers are challenging themselves to write inventive reviews about music and life it is made of. As I start writing this review, I can only think of the tight jeans and push up bras I have been obliged to contemplate all day. And then, back home I play this CD and here again it reminds me of my daytime abstinence and voyeurism. Indeed, Two Guys’ lyrics often deal with loneliness, frustration, waiting, love and sex. “Ode to Masturbation” is straightforwardly clear about this point while “Recovery” is more subtle, covered with pop naiveté.
Two Guys is made of the Jones brothers, one drummer and one guitarist who plays on a baritone guitar (something between a bass guitar and a guitar I suppose). The latter gives peculiar accents to the songs and the minimalist formation is truly inventive and cohesive. The deconstructive nature of most of the songs reminded me of Ruins at first but you can listen to more than two songs in a row from this debut album “Recorded”. Basically, I’d say that it is original (to my ear) indie pop rock.
I have listened to “Recorded” over and over again during the last week and I have not found something bad to say about it yet. But I must try to be objective here, so I’d say that their music may be kind of repetitive at times. If you like one, you will like all. References I can childishly point out : Sean Lennon, Thom Yorke and Tom McRae (for the singing), Reiziger and anything labeled as indie American pop rock (for the music).
I must admit that the longest songs like “Someone stole my fucking CDs” and “Victoria” are repetitive but not boring because the basis of the song is good, but 4 minutes is too long in this case. The quicker the better, in fact. “Empty”, “Animal Trainers” and “Hypocrite” are short melodic and sometimes angst ridden pieces which develop themselves out of a traditional song format. As a matter of fact, overdrive is not used only as a mean of playing the last chorus louder, there is a real architecture in Two Guys’ short songs that becomes more problematic with longer ones.
On the whole, they succeed in melting styles without an impression of fashionable collage: grind drum gimmick, jazzy interludes, metal sound, pop patterns, catchy chorus, lo-fi stuff, surprising bridges, etc…. In the end, I can only advise you to try to grasp a copy of this excellent record. Excuse me I am tired, I cannot think of something more original.
--Angus "triangle" Anderson
From Performer
Two Guys employ [Rob] Crow-like complex acoustic gymnastics, sudden tempo and dynamic changes and bittersweet nostalgia. The album opens quietly, with Jones' sweet, slightly nasally voice intoning, "I miss you. Maybe you don't care why." That song, "Recovery," builds up to the musical equivalent of a post-breakup meltdown. Over ever-louder strumming minor chords, Jones wails and vents beautifully. The whole album is doused coffeehouse melancholia, like a soundtrack for smoking cigarettes and glancing mournfully at the rain out the window. The spastic mood swings of poets and artists are captured perfectly with guitar staccato outbursts and chaotic song structures. On "Beach House Hangover" intricate chord progression borders on Rush-like drama, and "Fantasies" moves so fast, it's almost a blur. But Jones knows when to take it slow and linger over his emotional musings, like on the languid closing track, "Another Chance to Fuck Up." Oftentimes Jones sounds like a songbird repeating elaborate lines in urgent messages to fellow tree dwellers: "Keep down that racket, racket, racket / I'm trying to sleep it, sleep it, sleep it off." On "Animal Trainers" Jones, with his nerdy indie rock vocals sounding much like Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard, asserts, "All of you should be strung up and beaten out of here." But Recorded isn't the voice of aggression, it's more like a siren that beckons you to take a tortured walk down memory lane.
From Splendid e-zine
Even with headphones clamped tightly to your ears, it'll be a miracle if you can make out what the hell Cameron Jones is singing about. It's annoying to focus your attention on a particular song, only to reach the end and still be absolutely clueless as to its subject matter. Your only hope is to cross those bony fingers and trust that the song titles will shed some light, right? Unfortunately, you're out of luck there too. Sure, you'd think "Someone Stole My Fucking CDs" would be a gimme, but it sounds more like a love-stricken Heatmiser tune than a woeful punk tale about burgled aluminum platters.
Is Cameron drunk? Drugged up? Missing a large chunk of his tongue? It's difficult to say (or sing!). But if you're hoping for charming choruses or singer-songwriter musings, you've got another think coming. Cameron's vocals steal into falsetto territory one moment, then dip into an off-kilter Mark Mothersbaugh imitation the next. The enigmatic vocalist creates some catchy vocal melodies, but even when you can piece the words together, they don't make much sense.
Fortunately, there's more to Recorded than garbled. It would be incorrect to assume that Two Guys' simple instrumentation (a single electric guitar and drum kit) would lead to a minimalist sound. While the Cameron brothers (that's right, Two Guys are siblings) know when to keep things cool and ride out a particular thought, the duo enjoy creating math-oriented tunes that display their unpredictable and explosive musical tendencies. "Ode to Masturbation" begins with a heavily massaged guitar line that eventually sprays out a spiteful crunch riff. "Beach House Hangover" could be the antithesis of "Masturbation" -- its prude guitar notes weave through indie rock territory, only to be briefly interrupted by a heavily distorted breakdown. "Fantasies"' muted riffs and galloping drums are reminiscent of the beginning to Heart's "Barracuda", but the Joneses sneak in a bit of musical tomfoolery before settling on an odd-metered beat that's clearly anything but another classic rock track.
I can't say enough about Two Guys' musical skills. If you're able to get past the marginally comprehensible lyrics and high-pitched, hyperactive vocals, you've got yourself some entertaining music.
--Andrew Magilow
From The Glass Eye
3.0 EYES
To give you a little background, Two Guys are brothers Cameron and Ryan Jones. Cameron has been in bands like Thingy, The Physics, and, most notably, the recently signed to Touch And Go act, Pinback.
When I first put the CD in, I was worried it was going to be bad acoustic emo and began getting Dashboard Confessional vibes. Then, as the CD progressed, it loosened up a little bit and I actually looked it over with interest. After seeing song titles like "Ode To Masturbation," "Another Chance To Fuck Up," "Record Store Girl," and "Someone Stole My Fucking CDs" (Please take care of them / I can't believe I'll never see them again / She doesn't love you like I do), I knew I had to start it over and listen to the lyrics and music more carefully.
Upon second listening, the CD began to gradually grow on me, and so now I give the album a thumbs up. It's witty, and the music is more rocking and intricate than I first wanted to give it credit for. This one's worth picking up, and now I'm more curious about Pinback.
--Brett R. Jan
From Lost at Sea online
After having spent several years playing and recording with quirk-pop maverick Rob Crow in projects such as Thingy, Pinback and Physics, one is bound to soak up a bit of his offbeat style of musical horseshoe toss structures. Cameron Jones, baritone guitar player, singer/songwriter and one half of Two Guys, attempts to create a blend of math rhythms, pieced together pop and prog structures on their debut album, Recorded. His brother Ryan, who plays drums, helps him out with his precise and diverse skin pounding.
Although Two Guys are just that, their use of the baritone guitar fills out their sound to the point where you don’t notice the minimal instrumentation at all. While the worst thing about the band is their name and song titles ("Someone Stole my Fucking CD’s", "Beach House Hangover"), their spry and ringing pop and rock songs for the most part please and innovate. This type of music can easily get bogged down in reference and convention. One benefit here is that most songs hover around the two-minute mark. "Animal Trainers" rolls along but ends before becoming tiresome. "TV" begins with pounding bursts of guitar and drum aggression before launching into a lush pop song. The last track, "Another Chance to Fuck it Up" contains strains of 1960’s bubblegum production, to its credit. Then there is the rock fest of "Ode to Masturbation" and the prog leanings of "Fantasies."
Two Guys have created an album that overall holds up under the duration of repeated listens. There are a few faltering moments of weak vocal inflections or times where the songs change around a bit too much and lose their steam in the process. Fortunately these are offset by the more prevalent and more important moments of gleeful pop mayhem that permeate most of this debut set.
-Jonah Flicker
From All Music Guide
***
Two Guys are two brothers: Cameron Jones, the younger, on guitar and vocals, and Ryan Jones, the elder, on drums. Recorded is sweet, sentimental pop with passionate, emotional, and at times dramatic twists and turns. Two Guys have taken cues from previous bands that Cameron Jones had toured with, Thingy and Pinback, especially the structure style of Rob Crow. Recorded has many key changes and honest, straightforward lyrics. The majority are relationship songs that deal with females, along with a couple of boredom-themed types thrown in for good measure. At times, Cameron Jones sounds vocally like Matthew Sweet. The time changes and tight stops in "Empty" enhance the structure along with the controlled chaos at the end of the track. The math rock style continues in "Beach House Hangover," with the clean guitar picks following crazy time changes. There is a nice, long setup to the lyrics. The switch to distortion is always contained and the lo-fi drums never get too buried, much like a less-aggressive Wicked Farleys. The vocals of Cameron Jones are nicely mixed and work well with the music. "Fantasies" attacks and showcases the drummer a bit more. Both musicians are proficient on their instruments, but blend the vocals well to make the focus the song and not the individual playing. "TV" has a Shudder to Think feel. Two Guys never steer totally clear of the pop. The thickness that they create has a pop edge to it, much like Built to Spill or Quasi. With only two people in the band, the sound of the record is full throughout. Usually, Two Guys give up wonderful breakdowns amidst the time changes, giving a release to the tension. The record moves around enough so that one doesn't get bored, but not too much, where one can't focus. Recorded is an interesting and solid debut from Portland's Two Guys.
-David Serra
INTERVIEWS
Two Guys
Recorded
Out Now
Animal Trainers
Beach House Hangover
Another Chance to Fuck Up (live)
