"Javelin is the creative endeavor of George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk, cousins from New England. Javelin began making music in 2005 under the auspice of the Providence, RI art/noise scene. They wielded a mobile boombox soundsystem that used FM transmission to pump out pop-influenced sample collages, and their aesthetic aimed for surrealist block party in-a-box.
Their new 2013 release is entitled Hi Beams. It represents a more holistic approach to writing and recording than previously attempted by the band. Lyrics and vocal harmonies for the first time are foregrounded in decidedly songlike forms. Songs made to be performed in concert rather than as a patchwork of fragmented if glittery shards.
The songs cover a broad range of territories: homage to the strangeness of being a performer; encountering beauty & the void in the natural world; how mundane aspects of work/life distract and alienate us from our desires; advice to internet-based musicians; an assurance to someone who has isolated themselves; light, sky, stars, moon; gravity, delivered with levity...
Hi Beams was recorded and mixed at Machine With Magnets (Pawtucket, RI) using proper microphones, vintage mixing desk, an array of amplifiers, real plate reverb - in the traditional sense a "studio album." Previous work had been cobbled together in home studios and mixed on computer. On this record, Javelin aimed for a sound they could not have achieved by themselves. Of note, "Light Out" was written with samples from "Hey" by Moss of Aura, aka Gerritt Wilmers (keyboardist in Future Islands). "Drummachines" came from a track recorded by Javelin with Travis Murphy on guitar, of the now defunct Killer Whales.
From Javelin: "The last thing we'll say about the new record is that we are sincerely proud of it. We chose the name Hi Beams because the songs evoke to us a sense of sky, stars, night, and warmth - they are bright bodies of light that wave hello. Please enjoy the fruits of our collective labor.
