Written by Nick Leitzke

Brevity is not just the soul of wit. It is an indication that in as few words as possible you can wrap up an entire night’s worth of experiences, emotions, and memories, and in those few words you say all that needs to be said. Brevity is the soul of necessity. What needs to be said – what must be said – thrives on quick statement. Keep the point short and sweet and your reader will understand with absolute clarity what you are feeling.

With the new Quasi album ‘American Gong’ coming on February 23 and those of us who pre-ordered through Kill Rock Stars already listening to it thanks to our complementary free download, several days’ worth of experiences and emotions have amassed. I have listened to ‘American Gong’ many times since obtaining my free download. I have experienced many experiences. I have felt many emotions. My humble opinion of ‘American Gong’ can best be wrapped up in two brief words: it rocks.

But why does it rock? ‘American Gong’ rocks because…it rocks. We have a breath of fresh rocking air in the indie world. Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss are still quite capable of knocking our socks off, and they keep it simple in the process. Quasi’s songwriting has always been very simple, very classic, almost vaudevillian, but they run a beautiful cheese grater over the sound. They excel at complicated simplicity.

The opening track “Repulsion” will grab you the way every great opening track should, but it’s the deeper cuts that make ‘American Gong’ a great album. It’s the later tracks like five, six, and seven that keep you listening, and it’s the later tracks that are confounding my efforts to gather music for my spring mix this year. Every song on ‘American Gong’ is strong enough to be a selling point, so you might as well do yourself a favor and acquire ‘American Gong’ as soon as possible. ‘American Gong’ rocks, and little else needs to be said.

Except…Quasi are playing at the Black Cat on April 23. I will make every effort to be there.