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Starting with some eery vocals all alone, the guitars jump in (literally, it kinda scared me) and play a dark, distorted riff. It sounds like a David Lynch film (clever and pretty, whilst having a kind of dark, subversive nature). The song then progresses into many different shapes and forms (usually via riffs which drift through complexity). When the vocals return, the production suffers and the shouting sounds way too out of place (both in terms of volume and in terms of what's going on with the song). If the production was clearer and more coherent through this bit then it'd be a lot easier to appreciate. As it is, it sounds wrong instead of clever, which is a shame because it's a fucking cool song.
Atom (the b-side) has two faces. One slow ambient, guitar ballad(?) with electronics flying either side of everywhere. through out. The lyrics suggest the ballad and as it calmly paces through it develops into something a lot cooler. Then, some weird creature graps the song and swallows! The second part of the song samples a group of people talking and bursts into some aggressive riffs and shouting. I can't quite put my finger on it but the production really does stop this song from properly exploding like it should - the music is all 'shipshape' (cap'n) but the track struggles to transfer the energy that this track surely posseses when played at a live gig.
I feel a bit crap for focussing on the production, since these things can't really be helped at this stage so I'll focus on the music here because the bottom line is this: Akira have something special here. Unique? I struggle to think of a band that can display angular, yet poppy and progressive songs into a package that will stun, confuse and bewilder many audiences to come. I await future recordings to do this band some real justice.
Craig Sharp |
| Coding: Darren Burrows