Boy Fruit

Froot Da Loop (Never Come Down, 04.2010)

For: Early-Animal Collective, Black Dice, Pumps! era Growing

Byline: Less beat-oriented release by the prolific Ohio-an and perennial Tome fav.

Welcome to the second installment of the Tome's coverage of the interstellar weirdness that is Boy Fruit. Boy Fruit's last release, or should I say last month's release (this dude is the Fassbinder of bedroom drone-pop), was rightfully praised up and down by Crawf (read here). It seemed Crawf couldn't get enough of Fruit's oozing, syrupy beats and pitch-shifted synth lines. With the release of Froot Da Loop, the stakes are raised, but not in the obvious direction. The beat-heavy Repulsive gives way to a more textured, murky swamp-scape of sample-based collages, pitch-shifted everything with ample volume swells that make for a much more cerebral headphone experience.

The album opener "Tribal Fruit Dance" had me bobbing my head for a good minute until I noticed something strange about the track. There is no percussion at all. None. The percussive nature of the track is dictated simply by Boy Fruit's deft knob-twirling fingers; loops ebb and flow, get louder and fade out, creating a tide-exchange rhythmic effect. A stunning introduction and a stage setting musical statement of what to expect on Froot Da Loop. Getting busy beneath the surface, Boy Fruit infuses Froot Da Loop with a legion of swirling voices, gloopy synth lines, distorted electric guitars, and New Orleans big brass and high school marching bands, achieving a communal order of strange sounds crawling over each other for attention. Keeping all of these characters from spinning out of control and hurting someone is Boy Fruit's keen sense of timing, that intangible sense of when to put a volume swell here, exactly where a horn sample would kill it, or where to put that reverb-ed out loop that goes "whoooaarrrmp!" on this track. You know, the things they don't teach you at school. Like Crawf said about Repulsive, everything is pitched dooowwwwn, giving the whole album a murky, underwater feel filtered through the muted abscess of a busted ear drum. Strong percussion still underpin several BF compositions including the excellent last two tracks of the album, "Vegan Idiots" and "Adios Amigos!". Given the near-absence of the beat heavy production of Repulsive, Boy Fruit offers an earthbound pastiche of terrestrial sounds and sample heavy drones that stretch Boy Fruit's astounding musicianship into areas that receive less immediate returns but factor way more into street cred and growth as a musician. I am sure someday (in the Blade Runner-esque future) "froot da loop" will be a phrase that works as an adjective meaning to squash the mid-range and bass to create an awesomely disorienting sound.

For example,

"hey cyberdude, I'm wondering what I should do with this part here."

"Just froot dat loop!"

*Jumping high-five*

Urban Dictionary here we come.

Ryan H.

Boy Fruit Myspace

I am sure this is available somewhere on the interwebs, I would suggest contacting BF yourself and ordering a copy. Music this cool should get rewarded with some cold hard cash.