Sorts, The – Six Plus LP

Slint, Rodan, and Hoover. In the early 1990s, these three groups served as a launching pad for other interesting projects. From the ashes of Hoover, for example, emerged The Crownhate Ruin, June of 44, Regulator Watts, and the band we're discussing, The Sorts. In a scene—the Washington DC/Dischord scene—dominated by the highly flammable post-hardcore of Fugazi and Jawbox, groups like The Sorts and Smart Went Crazy offered a more relaxed approach, with playful instrumental flourishes and a twangy bass and drum groove. Fugazi already had their moments of being Washington kids imitating Funkadelic, but The Sorts (and later The Boom and HiM) made that intention their raison d'être, both in their songwriting and performance. They tried to distance themselves from their punk and rock roots, reclaiming the legacy of genres like jazz, dub, and even psychedelic funk (fanzines of the time called it post-rock, which was shorter and more fashionable). The group began as a collaborative project between musicians Joshua LaRue (formerly of Rain Like The Sound of Trains, now playing guitar and singing), bassist Stuart Fletcher, and drummer Chris Farrall (who came from Hoover, a band he'd been a part of while still a minor). As the group gained momentum (releasing albums on Slowdime Records and Southern, and touring regularly, primarily in the US, but also in Europe and Japan), The Sorts began collaborating with other musicians. This is how Joe McRedmond (ex-Hoover and ex-The Crownhate Ruin), Carlo Cennamo (saxophones, also in the essential The Boom), and Vin Novara (keyboards, ex-The Crownhate Ruin) became part of the group—more or less. “Six Plus”—The Sorts' album now being reissued by the Catalan label BCore Discs, originally released in 2003—could serve as a summary of what the group meant. In fact, it is their last work, although it doesn't have that twilight feel that sometimes characterizes a band's final albums (like an overweight Maradona playing for Sevilla). The group doesn't sound tired or lacking in ideas; quite the opposite. “Six Plus” opens and closes with two small experiments recorded in the studio, and then we find several examples of that instrumental prowess that makes listening to the group's albums on a Sunday morning a massage for the senses. The Sorts—like other contemporary groups such as Euphone, Del Rey, Pele, and Billy Mahonie—rocked with a subtle touch, making you float among the clouds. With this reissue, we'll miss them a little less.
(BCore Disc/ 2017)

Tracklist:

01. Reporting the Report
02. Erase the Space
03. Swamp Cooler
04. Clusters
05. Bob James
06. Rapatrol
07. South Carolina
08. Robot Seagulls