WEED
HARD TO KILL
ALBUM NETTWERK RELEASE: APRIL 6, 1999 REVIEW: JUNE 1, 1999
Weed consists of married couple Dan and Cristina Handrabur. The two were born in Romania but emigrated to Vancouver, Canada in their teens. Dan has studied sound recording and worked as a DJ. According to the press papers, Weed are influenced rather by the Detroit techno scene and European acts like Massive Attack and Portishead, than well known electronic Vancouver bands like Front Line Assembly, Numb, and Skinny Puppy.
Unfortunately, Weed are far from the melancholic and desperate beauty of Portishead, and the the chilling, funky techno sounds of Detroit. Instead, "Hard to Kill" sounds like a quite confused album. The careful drum'n'bass rhythms, Dan's programming, and Cristina's vocals tend to just float around, unfocused, seemingly in lack of a purpose. At some times they are pretty good, but nothing really stays in your head after you have heard it. Weed are actually best in the harder edged "Again & Again", where Cristina leaves the lame New Age feel of most of the other songs, and sounds closer to an upset creature from the Alien movies. Maybe it would not have hurt if they had listened a time or two to Skinny Puppy's "VIVISectVI".
KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN