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A bit of a weird one this - ‘Rise Above’ is a re-imagining of Black Flag's 1981 record ‘Damaged’. Not a covers album though, merely a “Re-working”. Basically Dirty Projectors front man David Longstreth attempted to re write the album word for word by memory despite not having listened to it for over ten years. Considering these factors it’s unsurprising that the album is a mish mash of ideas, at times intriguing and at others baffling.
It’s important to state that The Dirty Projectors are not a hardcore punk band like Black Flag, they make off kilter Alt. Pop which creates a strange new dynamic for the aggressive, angry and fast paced Black Flag songs. ‘Six Pack’ for example, a punk classic is reduced to a lo-fi folk esque work out, thathas a sweet and interesting Emmy The Great esque twee charm but lacks the depth machismo the original thrives on. ‘Depression’, ‘Police Story’ and ‘No More’ all follow suit with Longstreths strangled voice becoming whinier as the album progresses. To truly appreciate this album you presumable have to divorce yourself from the fact that you are listening to a Black Flag album, simple you might think but it makes for a much harder task in practise than in theory. As a musical experiment ‘Rise Above’ works, it sounds nothing like it’s original and is interesting throughout. It is however the word interesting that is the hurdle Dirty Projectors never fully clear. Sure it’s interesting to hear a punk album done differently the same way Hayseed Dixie make ‘Ace Of Spades’ interesting for about five minutes.
You can’t help feeling that this album is one creative step up from the current Radio 1 albums that are doing the rounds. You feel warm to the music at first as you know the tunes and words and hearing it done in a fresh way is interesting, however ultimately the experience is a hollow one as these songs have no real emotional connection with the people playing them. Dirty Projectors can take solace in the fact that they have not made a complete mess of this project but that ultimately it was never going to reap amazing rewards. The best anyone could ever say about a Black Flag ‘re-imagining’ is that they have done a good job. Nobody can change the world with an album of covers, and anyway everyone knows that Gallows are the best Black Flag tribute band to emerge this year.
