Javelin is another in a long line of Brooklyn-via-(insert somewhere else that’s probably pretty cool but “not as cool as Brooklyn”) bands. They work in the vein of The Avalanches or Quiet Village, making sample-heavy tracks with “lost” and obscure sounds. Unlike those bands, Javelin does integrate live instrumentation into their music like guitar, for example. For the recently passed Record Store Day, the band released a 10-inch EP based on vinyl samples and inspired their travels through the West called Canyon Candy. With a very short running time on each of the 13 tracks (the longest is 2:55), the easiest, most accurate thing to call this album is a Spaghetti Western version of Donuts. All of the tracks center around a general beat with a vocal sample or two looped over it from time to time.

Overall, the album is alright. All of their songs are very creative, and they made sample-based music out of what has to be one of the hardest to sample: Country and Western music. More than that, they don’t follow the Country machine pattern, blending these samples with electronic components and digital processing. The end result is really, really interesting, showing a great ability with sampling and immense creativity. While I respect such construction and displays of craft, the reason this album doesn’t do it for me is because it doesn’t stick with me very much. To continue with the Donuts comparison I made above, I found myself chanting samples from Donuts or getting beats stuck in my head. This doesn’t happen with this album for me. I think to myself that was a nice listen then go listen to something else without thinking twice about what I just heard. This isn’t a good characteristic for any great album to have in my mind.

In the end of the day, I’m not attached to Javelin as a band. I heard parts of No Mas and thought it was good, but never had the urge to get my own copy of it. If you like Javelin, this is definitely worth checking out. If you are on the fence about them or don’t like them, this EP, certainly, is not going to sway you one way or the other.