Review Summary: It goes by in a flash
It's the summer night that you spend all your time thinking about, wishing it never passed. It's the feeling that washes over you with such an intensity, an urgency to let you know everything is okay. It's filled to the brim with emotion and it takes a hold of you. It leaves as quickly as it arrives, whether you're ready for it to leave or not.
Clepsydra brings about the dirt on your knees and the smile on your face that appears only when you're with those you love most. It best conveys the relief of the breezy night after a long, hot summer's day. In 25 minutes, it throws you right into your more youthful times, times long past. In particular, it's 25 minutes of the feeling that washes over you as soon as you return home after a night with your favorite people and the realization that you won't be able to see them for a long time.
The guitar playing is complex but very reserved. There is a good amount of typical math guitar parts parts with the instrumentals giving them center stage, however some of the most powerful and arresting moments on the album sport some simplicity that is so obviously emotionally charged. The drums and the bass help to keep everything from going overboard while also setting the pace for some of the most frenetic passages in indie rock I've heard all year, and the vocals are to absolutely die for. They're entirely in understanding of what the music is trying to convey and many, many times, the singer will hit a note that absolutely astonishes me. She takes center stage here, but in such a way that doesn't ever take away from the instrumentation surrounding.
chouchou merged syrups. is a japanese indie band that evokes emotion like no other and
Clepsydra is one of the most emotive releases all year. They're a band that feels similar to the likes of Tricot but plays with the intensity of The Cabs. chouchou is one of the best japanese indie has to offer and they'll be a band to look forward to in the future. The sense of melody they hold tight is something truly special, and there are so many passages on this 7 song EP that have refused to leave my head for days after hearing the release for the first time.
Clepsydra is an EP that will keep you yearning for more. It shows us a band with a ton of promise that I think could definitely live up to that promise very quickly.
Clepsydra keeps demanding my attention and taking every last bit of it. It's an EP that conveys itself with such an urgency, and such a passion that it's impossible to ignore.
chouchou merged syrups. is doing something truly special and genre-defining here with some of the most refreshing math rock I've heard in the past couple years, and every time I finish listening to it all the way through it just keeps asking me to come back as soon as I can.