A clever band with a cleverly disguised self-titled album. Ok, not that disguised, but "you know I don't speak Spanish".
Anyway, this is another 'indie'-type band. I hadn't heard of them until quite recently, but a friend gave me a tip, so I decided to check them out, and I liked what I found.
This album is really guitar-heavy, but not in a loud kind of way, more in a neatly layered and smooth funky kind of way. It's kind of jittery and spastic at times, in that they mix up the sound a lot even within a single song, but somehow it manages to work. The vocals aren't overly impressive, but they really take a backseat for the most part to the impressive instrumental work, and generally manage to blend together very well.
I can't really get over the complexity of the guitars... it's not so much that they are difficult or whatever (not that I know anything about that) but there is a ton of depth there and the sounds are just so varied. The creative melodies stop and go and stop and go and stop and go...
Standout tracks for me are Track 2 ("Memphis and 53rd"), Track 5 ("El Torrente"), Track 6 ("Pachuca Sunrise" - incredibly catchy riffs and the vocals work very well on this one), and Track 7 ("Michio's Death Drive").
For me, this album is the kind of music that is amazing to have on as background music while you are focused on something else. When I'm sitting at my computer surfing the internet, I'll just throw it on and enjoy the crap out of it while I'm not totally focused on it. In that regard, it's also an album I'd love to have on during a long drive or while I was hanging out at the beach or something. I think if you were focused on the music and only on the music you might not find it quite as good... I guess that could be seen as an indictment, but it's just not that kind of music, it's something you throw on when you want to just relax and enjoy yourself, and in that respect it does very well (run-on sentence!)
The verdict: 7/10
Anyway, this is another 'indie'-type band. I hadn't heard of them until quite recently, but a friend gave me a tip, so I decided to check them out, and I liked what I found.
This album is really guitar-heavy, but not in a loud kind of way, more in a neatly layered and smooth funky kind of way. It's kind of jittery and spastic at times, in that they mix up the sound a lot even within a single song, but somehow it manages to work. The vocals aren't overly impressive, but they really take a backseat for the most part to the impressive instrumental work, and generally manage to blend together very well.
I can't really get over the complexity of the guitars... it's not so much that they are difficult or whatever (not that I know anything about that) but there is a ton of depth there and the sounds are just so varied. The creative melodies stop and go and stop and go and stop and go...
Standout tracks for me are Track 2 ("Memphis and 53rd"), Track 5 ("El Torrente"), Track 6 ("Pachuca Sunrise" - incredibly catchy riffs and the vocals work very well on this one), and Track 7 ("Michio's Death Drive").
For me, this album is the kind of music that is amazing to have on as background music while you are focused on something else. When I'm sitting at my computer surfing the internet, I'll just throw it on and enjoy the crap out of it while I'm not totally focused on it. In that regard, it's also an album I'd love to have on during a long drive or while I was hanging out at the beach or something. I think if you were focused on the music and only on the music you might not find it quite as good... I guess that could be seen as an indictment, but it's just not that kind of music, it's something you throw on when you want to just relax and enjoy yourself, and in that respect it does very well (run-on sentence!)
The verdict: 7/10