(11.23.05) Agape is the project of Ryan Powers and his first EP release is a
bombastic buzz of overdriven synths, howling monkey voices and drum
machines gone native. Attempting to marry volume with angst, Agape
churns and bangs through six tracks in just over fifteen minutes. A
length that is, after listening to the record a few times now, a good
length for him. I can’t imagine a full hour of Powers’ whistle-stomp
fury, but a short burst like this EP is the right sort of head whack
to start an otherwise sluggish day.
In a recent interview, Powers admits that practicing this music makes
him feel ill (reverberating blowback from the home PA and all) and he
states that he would play the loudest show you would ever hear in your
living room should he be invited to stop by your next house party.
Neither of the these statements is hyperbole. Powers stomps on a
piano like a meth-crazed Liberace during “Autocathe,” shatters the
china in the room when he blows out speakers with “Keep This Dance A
Secret” and neuters dogs with sound alone with the beat-blast of
“Motdomnitron” (complete with cowbell even).
Agape’s EP is lo-fi DIY punk electronica that is subversive in the way
it hooks into the part of your brain that enjoys kicking over the Lego
building erected by small children. It is like being threatened at
knifepoint to “get out and dance, motherfucker!” God help me, I
actually started humming along to it in the end. If you can call
silent screams in the back of your throat “humming.” I think I hurt
myself.
The Agape EP is out now on Agape Technology.
