"Double Dot" is Mirrorlines second EP, the first one being the 6 track self titled released late 2004.
Mirrorline are a fairly young indie/grunge three piece from Adelaide, Australia. They create a sound which i find to be quite 'self destructive'; a sound which is evident in some other bands like Helmet, Mclusky, and Shellac. Their music isn't really anything out of the ordinary (though it is really good), but the vibe's and the emotions that come with listening or watching these guys cannot be matched.
Mirrorline are:
Tom Spall - Guitar and Vocals
Ben White - Drums
Sean Langcake - Bass
Compared with their self titled release, this EP is much more 'hopeless' and like i said before 'self destructive'. Their music has lost a lot of poppy/melody and application that some labelled as a "Muse rip off", but in saying that, over the last year it has grown and molded into a beast that most people unfamiliar with grunge would find hard to listen to. Another change i have noticed is that the self titled EP had moments of soft beauty and elongated riffs that turn into walls of beautiful noise... Double Dot has none of this; which i think is a shame, but it has captured me in a different way.
Tom Spall holds this band together with his heartbreaking vocals, and very heavy, loud, moody guitaring. Spalls guitaring is sometimes messy, but at the same time creating an atmosphere, which along with Langcakes downbeat, 'dark' basslines, create this "self destructive + hopeless" feel i have been trying to describe.
Spalls vocals are nothing short of massive. Some of Spalls lyrics from "Daisy" include...
"SAY!.. ALL!.. What you mean this time!.. DONT!... HOLD!... Back and mess it up!"
... it sounds simple enough but somehow he creates this aura around what he is doing and saying that you find yourself lost for words when listening to it. One of the more amazing sounds coming out of the album is when Spall plays some harmonics between heavy chords in the chorus of "The Busker".
Langcake and White aren't to be overshadowed though. All three members of mirrorline and amazingly talented musicians, Langcakes basslines are very melodic most of the time, leaving Spall to create his own sound without having to worry too much about the melody. White's drumming is nothing short of powerful.
While Mirrorline have moved on with their music, and thrown away some of the more intricute and pop/rock parts of their sound, they have move onward and upward and begun to capture their own heavy grunge/indie sound that cannot be equaled by many other bands.
As an EP this = 4.5/5
As a CD this = 3.5/5
p.s. hardly anyone will have heard of these guys. but i felt like reviewing it. you can download "Wanda" at their website www.mirrorline.com.
enjoy
