[This review was first published in Badaboom Gramophone #3 and appears here with permission.]
Bedroom rock can only thrive by being charismatic and intriguing, which is just what Trevor Kampmann of Arlington, VA achieves with his name-shifting project. Aided by various producers, Turner has made some music which goes beyond acne-angst and wanders into a pop realm of ingenuity and cleverness.
Those qualities are not immediately apparent on …And Its Head Popped Off. An I-love-Lou Barlow collection of songs that are undistinguished if mildly engaging. Magnétophone (which includes three of the EP’s four songs) adjusts the marginality by tweaking the recording knobs and adding a symphony of simple instruments, most notably a Casio. Producers Warren DeFever (His Name Is Alive) and Dave Trumfio (Pulsars) add just the right ebullience to make Turner’s catchy songs into sonic bubblegum. “Microphone” mixes warm keyboards and a meaty guitar with a driving drum-machine beat, resulting in a Tall Dwarfs inner-worldliness.
Your Orgasm, credited to hollAnd, continues on this path, with a deeper immersion in electronic sounds and an expanded melodic range. Jenny Toomey sings on it.