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Celebration, The Modern Tribe

by Gordon Lamb
10/17/2007

Having missed the boat on Celebration's 2005 self-titled debut I came to this album completely unaware of both the band's existence and its sound.

Beginning with two intense tracks (“Evergreen” and “Pressure”) in which the repetitive, analog drumming recalls similar attempts by Creatures, the record moves seamlessly into the pleasant, if also somewhat benign “Heartbreak." However, the horns on “Evergreen” lift the tune beyond the occasionally irritating grunt of vocalist Katrina Ford. For the most part, Ford's vocals are incredibly strong and fitting but at several points she slides into the patronizing groan of a PJ Harvey or even (shudder) an Ani DiFranco.

The album is punctuated, however, by the wonderfully post-punk staccato of “Pony” and the slinky Samba of “Hands Off My Gold." However, these two tunes alone are not enough to salvage the entire project. Either there’s too many other bands present here (Creatures, The Birthday Party, Siouxsie & The Banshees, early Bow Wow Wow, et al.) or Celebration is merely the ladies in waiting for the next Burning Man festival.

With few exceptions (i.e. the ones mentioned above) Celebration just sounds like a huge put on. In short, the band isn’t believable. There’s absolutely nothing on The Modern Tribe that convinces me the band isn’t content to dabble in various styles simply because most audiences may find these ethno-tribal rhythms exotic. However, anyone who is taken in by the pretentiousness of Celebration is unlikely to have heard such sounds before. An audience can be forgiven its ignorance. A band, however, should not be forgiven its attempts to associate itself with authenticity.

The most striking characteristic of The Modern Tribe, and that of Celebration itself, is the drumming of David Bergander who pounds out the incessant, multi-patterned rhythms. However, rather than compellingly drawing the listener in, thereby calling them to the tribe, Celebration makes one feel that banishment really isn’t all that bad.

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