Brooklyn-based artist Elizabeth Sharp has become renowned for her various visual projects, including a Polaroid photography show at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York. The former drummer of New Radiant Storm King and bassist of Skinner Pilot has now stepped into the spotlight under the moniker, Ill Ease. Sharps stab at indie pop on her full-length debut is ostensibly "artsy as well, drawing from a variety of other bands to create a somewhat disconcerting and at times downright irritating musical mix. The albums first single, "Jersey-o-matic contains two of the most off-putting elements of Sharps musical methodology; dizzying arrangements and strained, whiny phrasing. By the second song, "Winter In Hell, any novelty that might be drawn from Sharps aesthetic vanishes in the flurry of jarringly held bad notes that close out the song. Ill Ease clearly view bands like Sonic Youth and Blonde Redhead as mapmakers, and if you throw in a bit of the stoner, dont-give-a-fuck attitude copped by Lou Barlows Folk Implosion, youd have a pretty good idea what The Exorcist might sound like.
(Too Pure)Ill Ease
The Exorcist
BY Vish KhannaPublished May 1, 2004