Vast. Huge. Monumental. Paramount. These are words that engage the listener as Tearwave’s latest opus “Different Shade of Beauty” pours its soul into their ears, whispering its way through their nervous system, and into their bloodstream. Dark and sweeping guitars ala My Bloody Valentine visit churning shoegazer atmospheres and ghastly female vocals. Once you sink your teeth in deep, “Different Shade of Beauty” is a dark version of the Cranberries with better musicianship, a knack for writing horror novels, and an uncanny ability to wash ashore as a desert island disc classic. You simply need this album.
The first full-length album from The Union Trade debuts their cinematic post-rock experience that is mapped out with crafty climaxes and dips into caverns of lows. Cheering on the recent wave of minor key grandeur in indie rock, The Union Trade seem destined to swiftly pour their influence into the pores of songwriters across the States. Dense walls of guitar are glazed and spackled with inflections of sound effects and distortion. Their record label, Tricycle Records, better make sure they have a solid contract in place with these folks as the Union Trade is easily the next Coldplay. As emotional as it could get, “Everyday Including” is a transcendental album awash in guitar fuzzy logic and hugely catchy triumphs. Simply amazing and simply essential. Own it and friend them on myspace.
Not since I first heard Statistics have I been this impressed with an indie rock outfit; Moving Mountains’ “Pneuma” will not only burn the charts but be the very top of so many “best of”’s that it seems as if it’s the very first essential album of this new millennium. Greek for “breathe”, the album features airy ambience and complex arrangements that take the term post-rock to a whole new plane of existence. Beautiful textures and dominant guitar arpeggio collide to forge a happy union between emotional rock, math-oriented punk, and the epically melodic. Space rock ventures are found on songs that are as deep as the Northeastern woods. Perhaps the best song on the album, “Grow On, Grow Up, Grow Out”, ends with crashing crescendo lapping at your feet like cold wet waves, building things up to smash it all down amid storied layers of intimate and intricately woven harmonies. Simply said: riveting.
