The Giraffes | 13 Other Dimensions

HIDDEN GEM
The Giraffes
13 Other Dimensions
1998 | My Own Planet

When I first came to New York in 2002, I nearly jumped out of my skin when I looked at music listings in the back of the Village Voice: The Giraffes were alive and well, and playing shows all over the city! I couldn’t believe my luck – a Seattle-based band that never tours, and whose activity hinges solely on the whim of Giraffes (and Presidents of the United States of America) leader Chris Ballew, playing regularly in New York?! You have to understand: I was fresh out of college, obsessed with miniscule little home-recorded records by Jeffrey Lewis (my introduction to anti-folk), Gentle Waves (Belle and Sebastian offshoot that makes Belle and Sebastian sound gargantuan by comparison) and Mark Growden (whose Downstairs Karaoke belongs on every comprehensive list of home recorded gems). New York was another world apart from Kalamazoo, MI. To be in my new home, seemingly able to celebrate these underappreciated saints whenever the desire hit me, free of the scorn of the metal kids in my old hometown? I felt like I had arrived.

Somehow, I managed to avoid the discomfort of going to one of these Giraffes shows, expecting Ballew and whoever was in tow. I’d eventually figured out what everyone else knew: that there’s a Brooklyn-based Giraffes, whose star has eclipsed that of Ballew’s side project. I’ve heard they’re awesome, loud, rowdy and abrasive, but have never been to one of their shows. So their story ends here.

13 Other Dimensions is, to the best of my knowledge, the first post-Presidents of the United States of America (who disbanded in 1998, only to reconvene about as often as the Summer Olympics since) solo project. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the packaging: the liner notes and artwork credit several stuffed animals (Giraffe, Munkey Sr., etc.) with songwriting and performance. The CD even comes with a moderately-convincing story that this is a lost bedroom pop album, made by a bunch of sentient stuffed animals in the early 70s! In fact, the only thread connecting Ballew to 13 Other Dimensions is the publishing company to which the songs are credited: “Raw Poo Music” protects both PUSA and the Giraffes.

And, of course, the songs. Once “Giraffe” sings, “I’m in another dimension by myself,” on opener “Chocolate Dimension,” the discerning listener knows this is Ballew playing a goofy little trick on his audience. Later, “Lonely Chicken” is lo-fi blue-eyed soul, with Ballew in possession of a soaring falsetto not unlike that on Gary Wright’s “Dreamweaver.” The album gives nod to PUSA (“Hopeless (Rub It In)” sounds like it belongs on their self-titled debut), U2 (lyrically, if not sonically, on “Wither Without You”), and vintage Sesame Street, with the goofy, deep bass singing on “Poodle Mouth.” Ballew’s songwriting dexterity is such that, in the three-minutes of “Little Champion,” he manages to sound alternately like MC5 and Mercury Rev, with ultra-positive lyrics that predate The Polyphonic Spree (“Everybody gets a chance to tell us their own story/ And have their little moment/ Underneath the spotlight with the referee saying, ‘Here’s the Champion…”), all glossed with a cool 70s warmth that makes the CD sound like an old, well-loved LP.

Ballew played all the instruments himself (possibly opining that the stuffed animals and goofy backstory was less pretentious than just stamping his name on the cover) and recorded at home on a four-track tape machine. It seems like he may have obscured it a little too much, though, as I felt like a crazy old man, raving to friends about this weird bedroom record by the guy from the Presidents. Nobody believed me, or nobody cared. Indeed, Ballew released another Giraffes record, The Days Are Filled With Years, two years later and credited himself. Still, nobody cared (in fairness, the follow up wasn’t as good), and the Giraffes, as I know them, haven’t released anything since. 13 Other Dimensions, however, is one of the reasons I make music, and one of the main reasons I think/write about music as much as I do – understated, cool, off the beaten path, and, most importantly, great. For a column that celebrates overlooked classics, there are few more apt entries for “Hidden Gem” than 13 Other Dimensions.

by Brook Pridemore