One of the first things I learned about Davey Harms, who records and performs as Mincemeat or Tenspeed, is that he doesn’t use “real” instruments. His big, scruffy beats are made solely with feedback loops that he coaxes from pedals and mixers. It’s an interesting detail: how does he make such bold, floor-shaking rhythms that way?. But Harms’ music, a psychedelic pound that sounds as much like noise, metal, and rock as it does dance, is fascinating whether or not you’re aware of his unique method.
Waiting for Surfin’ Bird, the first release on which Harms uses conventional electronic instruments such as synths and sequencers, is proof that his magic isn’t dependent on his tools. Despite the shift, Harms’ beats still hammer away as gritty fuzz piles up around them, and he’s still obsessed with grinding a single rhythm into your skull like a trepanner’s drill, until it produces the kind of epiphanies intended by mantras. In other words, it still sounds like Harms is DJing for a dancefloor in his head, with the bouncing bodies replaced by firing neurons.
If there’s a noticeable difference between *Waiting for Surfin’ Bird *and previous Mincemeat or Tenspeed records, it’s that the music is slightly clearer now, a little sharper, more spacious. But this could just as easily be due to recording techniques as instrumentation. Either way, the variance doesn’t detract an iota from the roller-coaster thrill of Harms’ sonic journeys. He acknowledges the change himself immediately and self-deprecatingly, titling the opening track “Normal Techno Jam”. This music isn't exactly abnormal-sounding, but the frenzied, warped edge Harms gives to every sound makes it singularly demented, and exhilaratingly fun.
Despite working within minimalist structures, Harms makes everything sound unpredictably deranged, which gives the album variety. Each track features a sturdy beat that rarely wavers in terms of BPM, deriving momentum instead through texture and volume. So while the frantic “Spirou” might sound like a drum machine that won’t turn off, it also cycles through a wealth of timbral changes, timed with a precision that belies its rough, bleeding cacophony. This also means that more restrained tracks still brim with tension. “Scarfin' Boards” is probably the most reserved Mincemeat or Tenspeed piece to date, yet its tiny clicks and submerged rumbles feel ready to snap at any moment.
It might’ve been easy for Harms to give up on that formula, and stop putting so much work and energy into his music. After his excellent 2010 album Strange Gods on Zum, he ended up releasing his last record for free via the Free Music Archive. But he’s since found another sympathetic label to support him: Decoherence, whose owner MP Lockwood himself makes noisy beat-oriented music as Radio Shock. Which is fortunate, because it’s tough to imagine the music of Mincemeat or Tenspeed actually stopping. There’s a drive to Harms’ repetitive beats that feels infinite, even eternal, and so Waiting for Surfin’ Bird will likely echo in your brain long after the album is over.
