It'd
probably kill Thurston Moore to admit that he signed Tall Firs to his Ecstatic
Peace label based on one simple fact: The band's singer-guitarists Aaron Mullan
and Dave Mies sound—vocally and instrumentally—like Moore and his
Sonic Youth comrade Lee Ranaldo. Tall Firs' sophomore disc, Too Old To Die
Young, is
so early-'90s indie, it almost hurts: Tangled guitars, sweet dissonance, and
intensely bored singing all struggle lackadaisically for dominance, and the two
songwriters' lyrics grasp for the sublime in the mundane. It's a pretty but barely
coherent sprawl, and new drummer Ryan Sawyer unhinges it further with a
misplaced jazzy restlessness that hints even he is impatiently waiting for the
songs to go somewhere. In spite of its blatant Sonic Youth biting—which
is actually kind of refreshing—there are a lot of gorgeous and even
heart-stopping moments on Too Old To Die Young. It's just a shame so few
of its strengths can figure out how to work together.