Floored By Four is Mike Watt (Minutemen, the Stooges) on bass and vocals, Nels Cline (Wilco) on guitar, Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto) on keyboard, bass, and glockenspiel, and Dougie Bowne on drums. If you've never heard of these musicians, then it is helpful to know that they have all played integral roles in sundry underground and mainstream rock acts of varying significance. It is also helpful to know that many musicians from the underground rock scene of the 1980s and 90s have created a second home for themselves in the world of avant-garde improvisation, much of which flourishes in downtown New York City. Floored By Four is such a project.
The album is divided into four tracks, each one named after a single member of the band. One and two are titled "Nels" and "Miss Yuka", respectively, and each is around 10 minutes long; three is titled "Watt", and is about four minutes long-- a pop song by comparison; the last track, "Dougie", is nearly 20 minutes long. Aside from "Miss Yuka", which has vocals-- though it is skewed to the point of barely even registering as a "rock song"-- the other pieces are works of instrumental improvisation.
To call these sessions "works" is a stretch-- they sound less like the show and more like the soundcheck. Listening to the album, it's difficult to spot any element of inventiveness. While each track has its own identity-- swampy blues on "Miss Yuka", Booker T. & the MG's-style swinging on "Watt"-- the sound itself is relatively anonymous, and the album has no arc or coherence. If you played Floored By Four without knowing who comprised the band, you wouldn't be able to hear any of these musicians' signature styles. This album doesn't sound like inspired jamming, it sounds like directionless and purposeless noodling.
Since all four of these players have exhibited such distinct approaches to their respective instruments in the past, one wonders what their contributions are here. Because as it stands, one thing that is noticeably lacking from Floored By Four is personality. It could be viewed as a neat curio, or a slight peek into a group's beginnings, but little more.
