Literally hard to pin point, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti has the fuzzy lo fi sound of songs playing in the back of a memory – a memory of toddling years in the eighties, listening to mom's Beach Boy albums and much later making out in the back of a car with a shitty stereo distorting college radio over unbridled teenage passions – but then take all those memories and make them just a little bit vaguely creepy and you've got the sound of House Arrest.
Being blissfully unaware of the hype tacked on to the group – though I was quickly made aware by blistering hands folded, “jesus look at this hipster” attitude of pitchfork review, I just really like it. I like that it taps into the past, I like that it makes me a little dizzy and, Bryan Ferry help me, after finally seeing the band's photo I like that they channel the decadence and outer spacey, superficial pizazz of glam bands like Roxy Music.
I've been listening to the album over the past few weeks, and unlike more congealed and clean releases, I still can't pinpoint a single song that I love, it's more of a hazy amorphous cloud that, pun intended, “haunts” unexpected moments. I'll be walking down the street and bits of a weird melody pop into my head. I like it.
This was the first Belle and Sebastian album I bought. I really hadn't listened to it from beginning to end for years until a few weeks ago on a long drive. They could have called it “If You're Feeling Sentimental” because this took me right back to my 21st birthday in Providence, which actually kind of sucked–which is probably why I was listening to a lot of Belle and Sebastian at the time.