Perhaps this doesn't really fit under progressive rock. It has a lot in common with bands ranging from The Cure to Depeche Mode. Still, there is a healthy helping of shoegaze in the mix. I consider shoegaze to be progressive rock. Besides, these guys are labeled as post prog, and that's prog in my opinion. All that aside, this is a solid set. It has a tendency to be a bit samey. They could have fixed some of that, though, by moving some of the earlier pieces to later in the album as there are a bunch of similar tunes grouped together.
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Track by Track Review
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Some feedback leads out. As it grows from there the music is dense and fuzz-laden, but also melodic. It drops for the vocals and we're into sort of a space rock meets Radiohead kind of vibe. There is definitely an 80s vibe here.
Dark Hair Girl I love the dense, fuzzy texture of this cut. It has more of a modern prog element at play, but it's tastefully noisy at the same. I suppose the Cure merging with Radiohead and Porcupine Tree would come close to this music.
Decor Blonde
There is no big change on this cut. That said, there is a bit more of a blatant prog element on some of the overlayers. At the same time this has an even more distorted musical concept in a lot of ways.
For Least Resistance
The dropped back section on this number brings some variety. That's good because by this point the formula is beginning to wear a bit thin. Still, there are some intriguing elements over the top of this arrangement.
Cherry Dancer
Now, this cut brings some much needed change. It's not that the general sound is changed, but the focus is shifted just a bit toward the shoe-gaze end of the spectrum. I know people love to trash that musical style, but I really dig shoe-gaze. This is driving and powerful. The dropped back movements make me think of Depeche Mode in a lot of ways.
Lotus
This is much more of an electronic cut. I like this a lot. It brings a lot of variety. Again, Depeche Mode is a valid reference point.
Electric
More of an electronic meets shoegaze piece, this is cool stuff. It's also more variety.
Zombie Birds
There is a lot more fuzz driven sound built into this cut. It's a good bit of variety.
Velvet Holiday
I love the combination of fuzz and mellower sounds on this number. It again helps to change the concept. This is slower and much proggier.
Doublespeak
This is more of a pure shoegaze cut. That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
Veldisa
Closer to the more rocking end of the spectrum like the earlier stuff, this is a solid song, but not one of my favorites. That said, some of the soaring shoegaze stuff later is quite cool.
This Blurry Kill
Here is another that makes good use of combining fuzz-driven sounds with electronics.
