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The sounds on this album, the debut from this Philadelphia quintet, really run the gamut of shoegazer styles, from driving Ride-esque rock to woozy off-kilter Pale Saints-esque pop. You've got your Kevin Shields style sounds and your Robin Guthrie style sounds, and they even throw in the good old Manchester beat in one song. There's enough variety here that every kind of shoegazer fan will find something to like, though perhaps there might be other things for them to not be as fond of. For instance, some of the songs have a dubby or jazzy foundation which doesn't quite float my boat.
For my taste I like the more pop-based songs better, like "Believe" (exclusive to the German release) with its bent and chiming guitar tones, "Fade in a Day" with its super-hooky chorus, and "Shattered" with its whooshing jet-engine guitars. And while the diversity of sound is impressive, for me it makes the album feel like a collection of individual songs rather than a cohesive whole.
Despite my quibbles, though, I do still feel like this is a strong and impressive debut --- I recommend it to any fan of the genre, and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing what these guys come up with next. (mike.08.04)
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