ALLZAH: Music

<ROBERT'S REVIEWS> <DREW'S REVIEWS> <WES' REVIEWS>

April 2004

ilyAIMY - Myxomatosis Failed

ilyAIMY has two guises—as a band of up to seven mostly acoustic grunge-folk musicians who coalesce (or congeal?) to play various open mics, coffeehouses, and other assorted pick-up gigs in the mid-Atlantic region, and also as the duo at the core of that group: rob hinkal and Heather Lloyd.

Okay, I called them grunge-folk because it says that somewhere on their multi-layered (and fun to wander) website, http://www.ilyaimy.com/ but these guys are hard to pin down. Even their fans don’t know exactly how to typify a band that plays songs dark and sweet, blistering and wide-eyed—songs from the beginning and also the end of a too-long night. The Washington Area Music Association nominated them for both the Best Alternate Rock Recording of 2001, and as 2002’s Best Contemporary Folk Group or Duo.

Why “ilyAIMY”? rob remembers in his art student days being affected by nostalgic family images plastered all over Baltimore with the legend “I love you AND I MISS YOU.” The feelings those anonymous portraits evoked became an early guiding light for his music. rob mentions Cypress Hill, the Indigo Girls, and even Metallica as musical influences, despite his largely acoustic performance. He and Heather joined forces in 2001 after finding they were a mutual admiration society.

The primary songwriter of the group, rob fronts the band with a percussive, rhythmically driven guitar style that freely composites fingerpicking, classical melodies, running bass lines, harmonics, and hard-charging chords. His vocals are needled and gaunt, with the jittery energy of a dockyard stray on speed—his songs are packed with fleeting thoughts, and have, as he says on his site, “a butt-load of lyrics.” Heather generally provides the honey for rob’s bitterroot in her harmonies, but her voice can as easily rise to an alleycat wail worthy of P.J. Harvey. The girl can flat-out sing just about anything. I for one would like to hear her take center stage more often.

Though they have a CD of just rob and Heather, I’ve so far only heard their full-band disc Myxomatosis Failed, with Alfred Kamajian and at times Rowan Corbett on percussion, Sharif Kellogg on keyboards and electric guitar, and Frank Rusch on bass, as well as contributions from Junior on sax and rob’s original singing partner Audrey Engdahl.

The album kicks off with “Asher’s Prayer,” which rises out of the hiss and crackle of an old LP like a ghost from a classic Pink Floyd record. Just rob and a very dry guitar, it’s an elegant understatement and about as far as you can get from the prototypical rousing opener. “Chalk Pit” is a verbal barrage with Heather harmonizing that hints more broadly at what’s to come. “Deep in the AM” is virtually a continuation in tone, but turns the focus from angst on the street to the more personal danger of being in love. “Sever” is described as the requisite angry chick song, and Heather puts the vocal pedal to the mettle.

“Cricket Hunt” slows down to inhabit the dark middle of the night when lovers promise their souls, with distant grace notes from the rest of the band drifting in and out of hearing. “Spiral,” with touches of Spanish guitar and a piano undercurrent, wonders how to speak of love when the words have all been said and said again.

The sax-heavy “Choke Cherry” is a live recording, and it’s fun to hear the band’s stage presence. The last cut, “Thunderstorm,” is a standout for its grunting electric lead and Heather’s purr-growl vocals out front.

I’ve only seen the pair perform a few songs together at the New Deal Café’s open mic, but I plan on finding more structured performances elsewhere, and I recommend you do, too.