The popular image of the typical indie-rock concertgoer is that of a guy standing stock still, arms crossed, unmoving and seemingly unmoved by whatever music he is hearing. When things get intense, he nods his head approvingly; when he cuts loose, his foot will tap. Whether or not that cliché is accurate (Dear couple dancing near the stage at the Beirut show in D.C.: Thank you. Sincerely, Stephen), Still Flyin' exists seemingly to combat that image and those social reservations: A multinational party band based out of San Francisco but claiming members from as far away as Norway and Australia, the group infuses every moment of its full-length debut, Never Gonna Touch the Ground, with movement-- skittering beats, elastic basslines, snappy guitar riffs, ecstatic sing-alongs, all with the goal of making their audiences uncross their arms and maybe even dance. Sometimes Still Flyin' come across as over-evangelical in this tacit mission, sounding either maniacally insistent or dopily precious, but you can't say they aren't trying.
Back in 2004, Sean Rawls, formerly of Athens, Ga., outfits Masters of the Hemisphere and Je Suis France, created Still Flyin' as a loosely defined jam band, and its constantly mutating line-up has included musicians who spend their day jobs in the Aislers Set, Rafter, Maserati, Love Is All, and Architecture in Helsinki. Because of the choir of female back-up singers punctuating Rawls' lead vocals, Still Flyin' will no doubt draw comparisons to the Polyphonic Spree or I'm From Barcelona, and because of its liberal use of white-guy reggae beats, the band may be lumped in with 311 and Matisyahu. They're cool with being uncool, though. What makes Never Gonna Touch the Ground so intriguing, however, isn't any one aspect like vocals or beats, but the entire overstuffed package.
Just as the band gathers members from all over the world, so too does it draw influences globally. Afropop guitars twist and coil throughout "Forever Dudes" and "Good Thing It's a Ghost Town Around Here", while "Dead Memory Man" and "Aerosmith Take Me... to the Other Side" politely skank on reggae and ska beats. Shout-outs to Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue" and Lipps Inc.'s "Funky Town" jostle elbows with nods to Swedish pop and show-tune punk, and it's all channeled through a North American indie sensibility, although one self-aware enough to counter knowingness with an exuberance bordering on silly. If Never Gonna Touch the Ground is Up With People covering Broken Social Scene, then some of these sing-alongs may be too complex to sing along with. That doesn't stop "Good Thing It's a Ghost Town Around Here" from unpacking its hooks one by one, each a little catchier than the previous. And "The Hott Chord Is Struck" spells out part of its title like cheerleaders at a pep rally. They got spirit.
Unfortunately, that free-bird sensibility also means there are some dead-end interstitials during which Still Flyin' actually do touch the ground. Ten years ago, "Act of Jamming" would have been a hidden track on this CD, but it gets prime placement immediately following "Ghost Town". That's not progress. It's a half-assed half-groove that starts with a bass line straight out of a Stax revue, but doesn't build to anything at all. "Haunted Houses" in particular is a soggy gospel about the visceral joys of horror movies, yet its slack pace and dull sense of import communicate no such thrills. If Never Gonna Touch the Ground is less a party album and more an album as party-- self-contained, relentlessly upbeat, rowdy, self-celebratory-- too many of these songs come across as kegs of near beer.
