: rangers

Rangers, "Deerfield Village", 2009.

Stereogum

27.10.09

Over at his MySpace, Joe Knight, aka San Francisco's Rangers, refers to his sound as "elevator psych." Clever, but not entirely accurate in this case. Rangers has a melancholic Twisted Village vibe to it, e.g. something more emotional than you'd expect in an elevator. (Think an updated, less jagged Luxurious Bags minus the star-shredding solos.) Knight's actual list of influences has a guitar-flavored Hall Of Fame look to it via Nile Rogers, Carlos Alomar, Johnny Marr, Mick Ronson, and Bernard Butler. Perhaps most helpful in this case, though, is Knight's mention of being into the guitars on the Cocteau Twins' 1990 album/song Heaven Or Las Vegas. He clearly has an ear for moody strings. Take a listen to what he does with them in the quartered video for the gorgeously fuzzed "Deerfield Village," a track from the forthcoming Suburban Tours.