Review Summary: An accessible, even if flawed debut that showcases enough potential to keep the listener interested.
A most interesting debut, this one. The Melbourne-based group recorded the whole album in their houses during the last two years and the result is a good, albeit flawed collection of alternative rock songs with enough darkness and edge to keep anyone interested.
From a songwriting standpoint, the record is very guitar-orientated as few of the vocal hooks go beyond the “cute, but not really memorable” mark. The riffs on the other hand, are very involving; simple, tight, groovy and catchy. What more could be asked? Check the opening
Break_the_screen, for instance; Josh leads the way with a thumping bass line, while Endi warms up with a few power chords before launching onto the groove with a perfectly syncopated riff. Other highlights include the crawling bass line on
White Lies, the furious instrumental assault of
Time, the aforementioned
Philophobia and
A Soothing Sensation and the gentle, acoustic-driven
Satellites.
When dealing with the production found here, I find myself thinking “boy, do they sound like novices!”. Of course, it isn’t very fair to accuse an underground group’s
debut album of amateurish production, but they don’t deserve a treatment like this. The mixing is very basic and rudimentary, making the whole record sound like a bunch of unfinished outtakes most of the time. The drum sound is the worst offender; Alex is obviously a well-versed, trained drummer, but there’s no “life” to the drum kit. It has a very tiny and rigid tone that doesn’t resonate well with the style the group is playing.
On the other hand, Endi’s guitar tones, while not breathtaking, are very interesting and diverse nevertheless; at times he adopts a “dreamy” tone like on
A Soothing Sensation, other times he will be styling both his playing and sound after Radiohead’s
Knives Out cascading, clean arpeggios and most usually, he will be banging riff after riff with heavy, crunchy distortion. In the meantime, Josh’s bass lines are splendidly represented by a thick, room-filling tone that actually gives the group the much needed “groove” ingredient.
Also, the members have enough chemistry in their playing to overcome their possible individual shortcomings. Luna might not have a big range or powerful vocals, but she brings a terrific fragility to the band, sounding like a young Lana Del Rey, but without the theatricality of the latter. Inexperienced as she might be when it comes to “singing for the song” and adapting her voice a bit, she more than makes up for it with her natural and effortless sensitivity. Which, by the way, contrasts nicely with the general intensity and heaviness found on most numbers here.
The rest of the members sound very tight and concise together and I don’t need to remind you that Josh
is the glue that holds the whole band together. While Endi is busy soloing or adding various effects to the guitar, Josh is there, holding the riffs down and keeping the structure intact, a feat that could not happen without Alex’s controlled and steady drumming, of course.
In conclusion, while the whole affair is far from perfect, it doesn’t matter; the group has enough talent to go upwards and I’m not just saying that. There are a lot of interesting riffs found here, an engaging lead singer and enough spirit to keep the experience interesting and intriguing. The most crucial thing for the group is to start recording on professional studios as soon as possible, because the sound engineering here drags most of the material down to the “colorless” section. Despite these flaws though, this record shouldn’t disappoint any listener at all.
