Astronomique - Sharp Divide (2018)

OFFICIAL: http://www.astronomiquemusic.com

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/astronomiqueband/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Astronomiques

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/astronomiques/

BANDCAMP: https://astronomique.bandcamp.com

Written by Larry Robertson, posted by blog admin

Astronomique’s journey to musical prominence takes another major leap into the future with the release of their first full length collection Sharp Divide. The ten song outing builds on the band’s previous EP efforts and illustrates the full breadth of their creative vision while still pointing the way towards a boundless future. Led by lead vocalist Logan Andra Fongemie and guitarist Sean Hogan, the four piece also benefits enormously from the contributions of drummer Mitch Billings and bass player Preston Saari. Their heft and swing as a rhythm section is produced for maximum effect and provides a muscular center for each performance without threatening to dominate the mix. This Minneapolis based band fuses a number of styles together on Sharp Divide and the ultimate effect of the release widens the gulf between their work and similarly themed bands working on the indie scene or elsewhere.

“Forefathers” begins Sharp Divide with an excellent example of the steady pulse provided by Saari and Billings. It has a speaker rattling touch without ever being too heavy handed and the production virtues round it into a warm, fat heartbeat for this song and others to come. Fongemie’s synthesizer playing blends well with Hogan’s guitar and they often work in concert akin to the manner we hear between progressive guitarists and their keyboard playing band mates. There’s an appealing Euro pop vibe to the track “Side of Your Mind” with a strong danceable beat and jangling Hogan guitar flashing throughout. Fongemie’s vocal is surrounded with considerable echo and seems slightly submerged in the mix, but the overall quality of her performance remains unaffected. It’s one of the album’s most evocative numbers and never overplays its ambitions.

“Losing Our Control” is built around its electronica sheen and has a steady stride once the full band kicks in. The consistent push of this song makes it one of the album’s more meaningful numbers while still relying on the same atmospheric calling cards we’ve heard with Sharp Divide’s first two songs. The album’s title song will impress many as the finest song on the release thanks to its fully conceived slant, both lyrically and musically, but Mitch Billings’ striding drums strike just the right pacing for the performance. Fongemie’s vocal is among her finest outings on the album and she wisely reserves an effort of this quality for the album’s title cut.

A recurrent swell of Fongemie’s synthesizers opens “Unspoken” and, when the song begins in full, Billings sets a definite tone with the brief gallop in his drumming. It’s impressive how the band maintains such a steady, nuanced pace throughout the track and Hogan’s lattice like guitar work hits an individual peak with his playing here. “Bleed Me” is a much darker tune, both lyrically and sonically, without ever deviating from Astronomique’s core sound and the album’s finale “Heading Nowhere” powerfully encapsulates the album’s primary themes in a parting tune every bit as compelling as its best predecessors. Sharp Divide is one of the year’s more creative musical efforts and opens the door to a boundless future for this Minneapolis band.

Sky Orchid - Oculus (2017)

OFFICIAL: https://skyorchid.net/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/skyorchidofficial/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/skyorchidband

Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

The Traknyak brothers from Kansas have long been carving a soon to be musical legacy across their local area.  With tour and recording dates taking them throughout Kansas, Texas and Tennessee, they are making their radius known more and more every single day.  They’ve also received airplay on at least 50 different Internet stations at this point as well.  Oculus is their first full-length outing and it deserves a careful, deliberate ear for its many musical intricacies.  There’s no specific genre and the duo of Gabriel and Daniel traverse several within each of the songs on this 10-track offering. 

The soothing waves of the aptly titled “The River” gets things going with a downbeat piano melody giving way to electronica drum programming and sky shot vocals that really ascend to a big pay-off of hard guitar meat and densely layered sound collage. What starts as a leisurely stroll ends with volume and a wall of sound type production befitting a late great psychedelic rock band.  This record is full of these nuances with “Sneakers” following much of the same blueprint though it replaces the piano focal point with guitar and launches into a heavy rocker of the highest order long before the endnote.  “In the Fire (Part 1)” is a subtle dirge that reckons of the album opener with the follow-up of “Wildfire” changing the trajectory dramatically in a wake of acoustic guitars, superb vocal melodies and lurching beats that open up into wider electric expanses towards the finish line. 

The frenetic “I’ll Stop the World (Part 2)” mingles faster, riff-driven bursts with slower downshifts that showcase a split personality between heavier and lighter vibes that still keep mindful of excellent musical melodies and big vocal hooks.  Tempos descend on the crumbling “Lex” and the tune’s scintillating guitar smolders, powerhouse drum thumping and fire-forged vocal mantras.  This strange otherworldly flavor is offset by the bluesy rollick of “Breathe Easy” and the almost ska-guitar boogie of “Take It All.”  These tracks are certainly the odd man out on the record stylistically, but somehow they fit within the overall framework.  Sky Orchid returns to darkly shaded surrealism on “Yesterday” and “Fortify,” making for a very strong send-off for the record at large.  There are no duds to be found here and all of the songs obviously had a long gestation period for all of the individual parts to develop and solidify. 

Oculus couldn’t be a stronger flagship release from the brothers Traknyak.  They’ve got strong musical chops, sharp songwriting skills, fantastic ears for production and all-around full bodied sense of how their sound should be portrayed to the masses.  With the proper label push and backing that understands their music, there is no reason that Sky Orchid couldn’t become a household name.  The duo has gotten a sizable following from their touring and recording out in the Midwest and it’s only a matter of time before they start branching out and taking over other parts of the United States.  Oculus is a fantastic debut that should be heard by everyone.         

Rejectionist Front - Evolve (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://rejectionistfront.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/RejectionistFront/

Written by Michael Saulman, posted by blog admin

Rejectionist Front’s successful run has thus far seen the New York City based quartet place their music with both television and film productions, share bills with iconic artists like George Clinton and Joan Baez (among others), release a critically acclaimed and popular first album, and appear on important indie collections alongside other immensely respected artists like Patti Smith, MGMT, Third Eye Blind, and Jackson Browne. They’ve brought their music to respected NYC area venues like CBGB, the Highline Ballroom, and Webster Hall They’ve worked with important production figures like Grammy winner Andy Wallace, a pivotal player on recordings from artists as diverse as Bruce Springsteen and System of a Down. All of these turning points in the band’s career lead to its next logical step, the all-important second studio album, and the twelve song collection Evolve finds Rejectionist Front ascending to a new level.

Lead singer and songwriting force Michael Perlman’s musical art brings every bit of the same passion to bear that color his involvement with activist causes like Rock to Save Darfur, but there’s no soapbox raving on Evolve. The first song “Ride” is a fantastic opener revealing a specific side of the band while introducing some themes that remain album constants. The band’s songwriting embraces dynamics, like any aspiring great rock band will, and they show impressive timing in when and how they bring those moments off. Perlman has an excellent musical foil in guitarist Lincoln Prout – the six string player serves as the band’s sole guitarist, yet conjures a variety of sounds that are often the equivalent of a small guitar army. “Savior” is one of the album’s best pure hard rock tracks and illustrates some of the band’s primary strengths – they are able to marry especially effective hard rock guitar songs with memorable choruses, a generous but understated amount of melody, and a multi-faceted approach to vocals.

“All Is The Same” is a moment when that aforementioned strength reaches an inarguable peak. The meditative side of the band’s lyricism emerges vividly from these words and the musical accompaniment. Prout’s talent for bringing evocative, forceful melodies together with blazing lead work and straight forward riffing makes him a guitarist of rare distinction in the modern rock arena and bassist Tony Tino and drummer Dave Dawson are an effective rhythm section, yet versatile as well. “Sign” has a direct, highly charged riff propelling it much of the way and a real swagger that comes at listeners from the first. There’s no preamble here, no beating around the bush – Rejectionist Front wants to rock and does so convincingly in a familiar hard rock vein. The band returns to a more deliberative, nuanced musical attack with the track “Reclaim” and it shares many of the same exhortative elements that made the opener “Ride” so memorable.

“Innocent” brings together the artier aspects of the band’s musical presentation, particularly through Lincoln Prout’s often intense and even dissonant guitar work, with their talent for impactful and accessible commercial strengths like a good chorus. It’s one of Evolve’s standout efforts. “Flush” is the album’s briefest song and a perfect choice for single status thanks to its clearly commercial inclinations, yet it never unduly waters down the band’s hard rock approach. Rejectionist Front’s second studio release is a confirmation and elaboration of everything we heard with their debut and secures their status as one of the best hard rock acts maturing today.

Shofar - s/t (2017)

BANDCAMP: https://shofar.bandcamp.com/releases

BROADJAM: http://www.broadjam.com/shofar

Written by Mike Yoder, posted by blog admin

Minneapolis’ Shofar has returned to action with a six track self titled EP that finds the Larry Hagner led outfit revisiting the glories of their initial run with a new found perspective that represents a real advancement from their older releases. The songwriting definitely stands apart, particularly lyrically, from standard rock fare, but it’s distinguished with a number of light touches emphasizing its melodic aspects and the recording belies their indie status with its polished, even sophisticated sound. This is a collection rife with accessibility and authenticity alike while they punctuate every track with an intelligence and idiosyncratic flourish that’s all their own. Shofar’s return to active ranks definitely fares a lot better than other such “comebacks” from acts big or small and, even if the musical landscape has changed a great deal, they sound poised to build on their long-standing reputation.

“Running” sets an early desperate tone. Even the more muted verses, with sketched out electric guitar weaving tense melodic lines around Larry Hagner’s voice and lyrics, crackle with unsettled energy. It occasionally erupts into some ferocious riffing quite unlike anything else on the release. “Powerman”, however, is a complete shift into acoustic influenced pop rock harkening more to the classic British rock side of the spectrum with a little California sunshina-via snowy Minneapolis tossed in for good measure. The addition of backing vocalists makes it an all the more enjoyable musical ride and the six string jangle coming through on the tune is a little reminiscent of The Byrds as well. Hagner’s lyrical acumen remains at a high level for the song “Shades of Grey” and the musical mood finds him asserting a little more rock edge without ever exploring any of the harsh power we heard from the EP’s first cut. “Hands Down”, however, should be offered up as Exhibit A that, given the right inspiration, Larry Hagner has conclusively mastered the art of writing a top shelf rock gem. The chorus of this tune makes it priceless and it’s invigorating to hear the band seamlessly shift into a higher gear.

“Countdown” and the EP closer “The Coming” are more overtly introspective and thoughtful material than much of what we hear from this Shofar release/ The first of those two songs is particularly fascinating as it’s essentially a depiction of the world ending and rife with details that show Hagner’s eye for specificity is quite powerful. “The Coming” is a little more poetic minded, but it’s an ideal marriage of music and lyric with, arguably, Hagner’s best vocal performance on the EP. Shofar’s first run didn’t last nearly long enough and we can only assume, based on the strength of this release, that this time they’ve returned with the aim of fulfilling that early promise.

Blue Apollo - Light Footed Hours + Circles (2017)

OFFICIAL: http://blueapollomusic.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/blueapollomusic/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BlueApolloMusic

Written by Jay Snyder, posted by blog admin

Dallas, TX trio Blue Apollo work up an admirable alt-rock sweat on their debut EP release, Light-Footed Hours.  As jangling, angular guitar lines rooted in minor-key chord phrasings brush shoulders with hard-hitting tribal tom rolls, deep diving bass lines and breathy higher-register vocal melodies in the title it’s clear that the band were raised in a school that taught John Mayer, Stevie Wonder, James Blunt and maybe even a little Slint.  It’s a rousing opener with a very casual flow but some nice tempo jolts thanks to Jeremiah Jensen’s punchy snare runs in the second half and guitarist/vocalist Luke Nassar’s scalding lead licks.  This is simply a well-put together rock track and it’s got the vocal magic to mold it into something special.  A great singer can carry an average band but a poor singer can’t carry a top-tier unit, graciously, neither is the case here. 

Groovy funk rhythms especially felt in those throbbing bass lines collide with reggae flavored guitar ska as Nassar breezes through a free-form scat in the hyper catchy “Feeling Right.”  Dramatic musical stops n’ starts lend the cut some jarring sonic expositions.  Jensen’s drums flex nothing but steroid pumped muscle throughout (his snare-work deserves special mention) while bassist Rodman Steele anchors down the groove with dense, fluid bass lines that weave in and out of the main guitar melody.  Luke’s lead guitar runs are yet again a highlight; even adding some classic rock style squeal, scorch and flair to the way they slowly, deliberately uncoil.  A touch of organ accompaniment further enriches the music in a golden 70s aura that enraptures the eardrums and keeps the listener involved for the long haul. 

“Therapy” kicks off with a simultaneously subdued and rocked-out lead guitar riff that picks up the pace as the drumming cautiously ratchets up the intensity.  Soon the rhythm section takes over with tidal ebb n’ flow of gorgeous sound as the guitar occupies an atmospheric role until it swells noticeably in volume during the tune’s show-stopping chorus.  James Blunt fans should be able to get down with the alternately indie and alt-rock tendencies going down in this cut (which so happens to turn out to be one of the EPs greatest highlights).  A melancholy, moonlit piano arrangement opens up “Avalanche.”  This piece provides a showcase for Nassar’s massively expressive pipes and a wonderful singer/songwriter showcase that focuses on the absolute most stripped-down structuring available.  Jensen integrates a sparse kick-drum beat with some cello wrapping around the twinkling ivories.  Layer by layer the song builds into something truly grand.  The bass creeps in carefully with sparse notations that rest within a bed of sparkling, crystal clear guitar melodies.  Surprisingly the music builds to a full band climax with some of the EP’s most frenetically rocked-out instrumentation contained within.  “Meant to Be” adheres to a similar format but pairs Luke’s soothing voice with mainly desolate guitar lines that eventually gives rise to another entire band climactic shuffle which sounds great and delivers the appropriate amount of impact. 

Bonus track turned single “Circles” closes out the record with spacey, high-energy buoyancy rippling in waves of effortless tom-tom pulsations, ever-flowing bass grooves, ambient electric guitar twang, a handful of bluesy riffs and soaring vocals.  It’s a perfect endnote to an EP that traverses many varying modes over its brief 6-song trajectory.  Honestly, the quality and satisfaction delivered by the material hear makes this record feel like a full-length.  At any rate, this is really good stuff and well-worth your time and hard-earned dollar.