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Elusive Parallelograms and Everything Changes Review by Gary Hill The debut disc from Elusive Parallelograms, this is quite a diverse little EP. Overall the main musical themes are psychedelia, punk and power pop, but those are really just the anchors that hold this in place. There’s plenty of other musical concepts and these guys don’t seem at all afraid to stretch out of little boxes. I’d have to say that there might be a song or two that leaves me scratching my head here, but overall I like it all a lot. These guys have a cool sound and have produced an excellent first effort. Here’s to more from Elusive Parallelograms. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2009 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

Rev They waste no time, jumping right in with a smoking rocker. Take a bit of cheap trick, add in some psychedelia and a little punk rock and you’ve got a good idea of what to expect here.

Otro There’s more of a modern alternative rock texture to this, but we still get some of that psychedelic element. There’s a more contemplative tone to this. It’s not the instant “grabber” of the opening piece, but it’s still compelling.

Orange The fast paced jam that makes this up is more pure punk in tone and delivery. It’s another in a chain of strong material.

Belochromatic Here is the first of two pieces that clock in at less than a minute each. This one is basically a backwards tracked piece of guitar based weirdness. It’s quite cool, nonetheless.

Asleep Starting off rather mellow and melodic, this fires out into one of the most ferocious jams we’ve heard so far. It’s quite punky.

Closure There is a gentle format that opens this and it’s got more of the psychedelic tones we haven’t heard in a few songs. They power this out into something harder rocking, but it probably most closely resembles the opening number – with some Jane’s Addiction added to the mix. There are mellower segments woven into the tapestry of these cuts and this is one of the most dynamic numbers on show. It’s also one of my favorites. Of course, at over four minutes in length, it’s the second longest piece, too. There’s a killer classic rock guitar solo segment late on it – along with an extended feedback outro.

and Everything Changes The title track, this starts in a weird bouncing acoustic based motif. They build on this and it is another that reminds me of Jane’s Addiction. There is a definite bit of 1960’s psychedelia built into this beast, too. I can also make out a little bit of The Violent Femmes.

Lilt Backwards tracked guitar starts us off here. It works out from there into another bouncing, hard rocking number that’s catchy and tasty.

Hang Those Who Speak of the West Here’s the weirdest cut on here – and I’m not really sold on it. Weird sound effects make up a big chunk of it and we get a techno sort of rhythmic element covered by weird keys and a mournful vocal line. It’s OK, but I guess I don’t get it.

Destroyer A completely furious piece, this has a serious metal guitar line and a hardcore punk arrangement. This is a screamer – and will probably send some people running screaming. For fans of oldschool hardcore, though, it’s a nice touch.

Coagulated Conduit In sharp contrast to the ferocity of the last piece they start this with sparse bits of acoustic guitar. Eventually it works out into a sedate and quite pretty ethereal ballad type number. It’s a nice change.

Benzedrine Here’s an energetic cut that’s fun. There’s some of that psychedelic sound built into this and yet it’s also punky.

Finland This is the second shortest piece on here and it’s just a cool rocking instrumental workout.

Intelligent Design There’s a lot more psychedelia on this than anything else on the CD. I could actually imagine this coming from some old 1960’s disc – mind you it might not have had the production that this does. It’s one of my favorites on here and at times reminds me a bit of Hawkwind. It does move out into more hard edged music that’s along the lines of Jane’s Addiction later. At just over four minutes this is the longest number on the album.

Epilogue They close things with a pretty instrumental that’s rather proggy. It’s got an almost electronica feel with keyboard sounds carrying the melody.

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