Review Summary: Keeps your interest, long time.
65daysofstatic - the spectacle of 4 young men in way over their heads!
-65daysofstatic’s “About 65daysofstatic” on their Myspace
This doesn’t explain much about their sound; actually, it says nothing about their sound. These four musicians from the UK have mixed post rock, electronica, shoegaze, and math-esque rock together to form this mélange of amazingly enjoyable music. It’s fast, slow, heavy, light, crushing, light; everything all at the same time. It is hard to explain this record and yet, so easy to understand everything that is happening.
Bursts of speed and intensity line the opener ‘Drove Through Ghosts to Get Here’; the bottom layer of slow epic piano/synth holds up the fractured percussion/bass. All the different sounds and textures add to this incoming tidal wave that is
One Time for All Time: a stunning example of how to expand the sounds of acoustic instruments. This record has rises and falls, climaxes, explosions of intensity, etc. The thing that makes it so different is the small little tweaks they made, and huge leap of using mostly electronic sounds in their music.
Although using mostly/only electronic instruments in music is not a new idea, their application is very fresh. There are no weak songs on this record. There are some parts which could have been extended, like the little melody halfway into “65 Doesn’t Understand You”, and sometimes it feels as if the drums are too overpowering compared to everything else. Over all, the record is quite consistent in staying interesting.
A fault within this record is that the percussion never seems to just sit down and gradually rise with the rest of the band, using lighter sounds such as cymbals, bells, clicks and the like. A feeling of urgency can encompass the drums and keep them from achieving their potential. Overpowering some of the more subtle layers in the songs, the drums takes centre stage and leave some of the more subtle, nuanced bits in the dust and a certain amount of attention needs to be devoted to hear them,
The complexity of this record seems to be derived from it’s simplicity: there are no solos, insane guitar riffs, piano runs, odd time signature jumps, or unfamiliar keys. The beauty is extracted from the sum of all it’s parts working in a wonderful harmony that is consistent, fresh, interesting, and most of all: lively.
Rating
4.6/5
