How Did I Get Here?

'John Fahey awakens, crawling from the kitchen floor towards the bathroom. The dishes are coated thick with dust and scraped guitar strings, and when he greets the slick tile he murmurs about the state of affairs to no one there. Up comes musical memories, lovely but spinning in place and dimensions of grey. Did Califone play in the living room last night, with Evan Dando back on junk and guest-singing, leaving the electronic instruments at home? . . .' -Bandoppler 'Levi Fuller takes full advantage of the sloppy aesthetic...and makes it work. How Did I Get Here?'s opener, an instrumental titled 'Figures of Dead Men,' starts off simply with an out-of-tune guitar, rife with pick noises and missed chords; it's joined by a banjo and some microtonal bottom texture that's simply brilliant. It is innocent and sweet, and the unfolding is mysteriously hypnotic: you have no idea what you're hearing, or what will come next, or why you're so intent on listening, but you proceed without caution. Most of the album retains this feeling, the strong impression that Fuller put his heart into the songwriting. . . . 'Seasons of Wither' [an Aerosmith cover] incorporates banjo with drum machine and a heavy Cure-style bassline, then adds a sagging croon, plopping in underwater-sounding drums and ending with a tricked-out toy piano solo. . . . Fuller's simple, straightforward earnestness carries the music and excuses any performance 'mistakes' or engineering flaws. I wouldn't change a thing.' -Dave Madden, splendidezine.com ''How did I get here?' isn't an easy listen the first time or any other- it's prickly and bloody-minded and generally refuses to meet your expectations, almost exactly as you've formed them. Nonetheless, it has bright, shiny moments as well as the times when it's incoherent and it has sweet, melodic moments as well as the times when it's inchoate and alienating. It's not pop and it doesn't have words to most of the songs- Mogwai and Califone fans will be at home, although it takes at least until the fifth spin before it's warmth and eccentricity capture you. Something, in the meantime, keeps you listening long enough to be drawn in. Buy whether you like the bitter angularity of NW Pacific scene, or the more organic and traditional noise of the Mid-West. Challenging and ultimately rewarding, although not one for the Mavericks fans amongst us.' -americana-UK.com.