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innerspaceboy · 02-22-2017, 04:40 PM

I’ve given this album two solid listens, and I’m grateful that I gave it a second shot. Initially, I played the Youtube version on my server and listened using my Audioquest Nighthawks, and found it nearly unlistenable. From the first note off the record, the album sounded incredibly muddy, as if I were listening submerged in a tank of water. And don’t misunderstand me - there are a few shoegaze staples which are produced precisely to sound that way and to a marvelous result. But after three tracks I was so frustrated with the sound that I terminated the album survey and moved on to other tasks.

After a day passed I thought I should give it another shot so I played it again, but this time used my Focal mains instead of the Nighthawks. I was delighted to find it a wholly different and far more gratifying listening experience. Just a minute or two into the opening track, it was evident that the transparency of my floor speakers served this record far better than the heavily-colorized signature of the headphones. The vocals are most certainly subdued, both in Nash’s delivery and in the mixing, but in a way wonderfully suited to the genre. The endlessly swirling phasing effect of the guitar and the percussion-from-a-distant-planet are enough to convince any unsuspecting listener that this album was lifted straight out of the prime era of shoegaze. As a haughty musical traditionalist, I found that I had a really difficult time dismissing this record as modern rubbish and it spoiled all my pretentious fun.

While there are no massively-gripping moments from this record, it makes no attempt to be giant or showman-like. It simply acts as a brilliantly loud sonic bed for the listener to lose him/herself in, just as a good shoegaze record should. The already-named influences are absolutely evident, and the duo does nothing to hide this - instead the album is an excellent tribute to the mainstays of droning neo-psychedelia, (and “Outside” sounds reminiscent of a slightly more uptempo “Venus in Furs.”)

All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable album. So glad I gave it a fair shake.