【搬运译】叉婊Pitchfork评Women 2010年专辑《Public Strain》

搬运自：网易云音乐专栏【Music Online Zine Courier】（在原文基础上添加了英语原文与排版调整）

翻译：豆目豆科

For their sophomore effort, the Calgary post-punk band offer a bleak but beautiful record, full of subtly skewed melodies.

谈到他们的第二部作品，来自卡尔加里的后朋乐队为我们提供了一张黯淡却美丽的唱片，充斥着微妙的奇异旋律。

On their self-titled debut, Women kept their howls and hooks separate. The Calgary-based post-punk quartet dished out gritty drones and pristine pop with equal aplomb, but the album's highlights-- the spiky and dissonant "Shaking Hand" or the melancholy psych-pop nugget "Black Rice"-- stuck to one camp or the other. Two years later, Women have bridged the divide. The group's sophomore effort, Public Strain, pushes forward in both directions-- the hooks are noisier, the noise is hookier, and both are fogged over with enough reverb to make Felt records seem bone-dry by comparison. Fidelity-wise, it's a step down. But in just about every other sense, Public Strain is an improvement-- a bleak but beautiful record, full of subtly skewed melodies.

在他们的同名首专中，Women第一次将他们的嚎叫与Hook相分离。这支来自卡尔加里的后朋四人乐队以泰然的姿态发出了粗粝的、无意识的、纯粹的流行声音，同时专辑的高光——尖锐而不和谐的“Shaking Hand”或忧郁的迷幻流行小品“Black Rice”——坚持在各自各自的领域、泾渭分明。两年后的Women已经弥合了这一分裂感。这支乐队的第二张作品《Public Strain》在两个方向上都取得了进展——Hook更吵，噪音更Hook，而且都被充足的混响所笼罩，以至使Felt的唱片相比之下都显得骨感、枯燥。就保真度而言，它有所“退步”。但在其他方面，《Public Strain》实现了飞跃——一张阴郁而美丽的唱片，充斥着微妙的奇异旋律。

Women's debut revved up quickly-- a minute's worth of garage-rock stomp dropped straight into the throbbing art-noise of "Lawncare". Public Strain is a more subdued record. Album opener, "Can't You See", drifts gradually into form-- the bass anchoring Patrick Flegel's vocal amid a haze of bowed guitars and abstract sampler-squeals. "Narrow With the Hall" pits ghostly vocals against a sea of feedback, bound together only by a couple of wiry, tremolo-riddled chords. The atmosphere owes a distinct debt to the noisier side of 1980s underground music-- particularly Sonic Youth's darker, skuzzier early days. But the when it comes to melody, Women dial things back a few extra decades. The Flegel brother's vocals are harmony-heavy, recalling the work of ornate 60s pop acts like the Zombies and the Electric Prunes. The mixture produces a unique, gray-paisley vibe-- the sound of vintage psychedelia bleached of its color.

Women的首专节奏很快——仅一分钟的车库摇滚“咣叽”直接掉进了“Lawncare”悸动的艺术噪音之中。而《Public Strain》是一张更为低调的唱片。专辑开篇“Can't You See”，渐入佳境——在一片朦胧的弓形吉他和抽象采样器尖啸中拉开帷幕，在贝斯搭衬下，Patrick Flegel的声音渐渐趋于平稳。“Narrow With the Hall”将幽灵般的人声与海浪般汹涌的回声相抗衡，却仅由几个毛茸茸、颤动的和弦将它们联系在一起。这种气氛明显受惠于80年代地下音乐的嘈杂一面——尤其是早期Sonic Youth黑暗、污秽的岁月。但当我们谈及旋律，Women把视角往回调转数十年。Flegel兄弟的人声重叠交错，让人想起60年代华丽的流行音乐，就像The Zombies和The Electric Prunes的作品。自这种混搭中诞生了一种独特的、灰白色的氛围——复古迷幻的声音，却漂去了它的色彩。

But by the halfway point, Public Strain shifts toward darker, more paranoid territory. "China Steps" rides the eerie, tick-tocking, interplay between the rhythm section and two de-tuned guitars. The Flegel brothers' ethereal vocals drift in and out of key, creating an unsettling call-and-response at the song's climax. For all the sonic bric-a-brac, it's these vocals that push Women off of the retro-rock grid and into territories unknown. Their songs start out familar enough, but the Flegels-- along with guitarist Chris Reimer, who also sings-- frequently dovetail into unexpected, crooked-sounding harmonies. In the first minute, "Venice Lockjaw" screams Velvet Underground knock-off. But by the time the chorus swings around, things have been screwed an octave up into choir-boy territory, giving the song an awkward but tender resolution.

但当专辑进行到一半，《Public Strain》转向了更黑暗、更偏执的领域。“China Steps”中，节奏部分与两把失调吉他间发生了阴森、滴答作响相互作用。Flegel兄弟空灵的歌声飘忽不定，在歌曲的高潮部分营造出一个令人不安的呼唤和回应交叠响起的状态。所有的音浪，正是这些将Women从复古摇滚的渔网中挣脱，推向未知的领域。他们的歌曲从一开始就很是亲切，但Flegels兄弟和吉他手Chris Reimer（他也唱歌）经常碰撞出出人意料的、听来很扭曲的和声。在“Venice Lockjaw”的前一分钟里，他们叫嚣着，就像The Velvet Underground的山寨版。但到了副歌，已被完全扭转了一个八度，遁入唱诗班男孩的领域，给这首歌一个尴尬却贴心至极的收尾方案。

Public Strain was recorded alongside producer Chad VanGaalen, who also helmed Women's self-titled record. His production is chilly and thin-- possibly a nod to the early-80s indie bands that Women hold in high regard. Or maybe it was just the weather--the sessions were conducted in Alberta, Canada during the dead of winter. At first listen, Public Strain is impenetrably cold. But deep down, beneath the blizzard of noise and hiss, something's burning.

《Public Strain》是他们与制作人Chad VanGaalen一起录制的，他同时也是Women同名专辑的掌舵人。他的制作冰冷而单薄——也可能是向Women所推崇的80年代早期独立乐队致敬。或者也许只是天气的原因捏——加拿大阿尔伯塔省的冬天，这张专辑的录制是在冬天进行的。乍听，《Public Strain》是令人难以忍受的冷；但实际上，在充斥着噪音和嘶嘶声的暴风雪之下，有东西在灼灼燃烧。