Aver, a self described space, stoner
and grunge rock band operating out of Sydney, Australia. This is
there 100% DIY recorded self-titled debut. Wait til you hear this one
man...!
Track one, “Anti-Matter”, is a rich
mix of the smooth and the scattered, all held aloft by the mingling
of the ambient lead guitar and the free bass that is quite high in
the mix to great effect. There is a little of the more chilled
moments of Kyuss, where Scott Reeder would do his own thing while
Josh Homme would indulge some jangly clean guitar. The chorus is all
Smashing Pumpkins and makes an excellent contrast to the verse. The
brief, delay soaked solo invokes Wino, even in the minute few bars in
which it exists.
Next up, “Jacob” is pure stoner
delight, akin to American instrumentalists Eastern Crank in its
riffing style. The vocals have old fashioned grunge sensibilities
that often work well with this kind of music. It makes for greater
accessibility and ensures that it's not all about fuzzed out guitars.
In this case I can hear a little Layne Staley, which is always a good
influence to emulate.
“Acid Rain”. At this early stage it
is already clear that Aver are out to mix up some very unique sounds
into their final product. This one opens with what I'm guessing is a
droning didgeridoo, before settling into a fairly traditional rock
riff. There's a touch of early Soundgarden Kim Thayil about the
riffing and soloing as we progress, no complaints here! Nor with the
following track, “Real Eyes”, any song that opens with a Nebula
style swishy clean passage before breaking out into classic Black
Flag dirt and back again, is a winner in my book.
“Retreat to Space”, makes me think
of a less moody Isis (god rest 'em), retaining all the dark
post-metal charm and inventiveness. And we shift vibes radically yet
again with the melancholy “Decay”. I hate to keep name dropping
comparison bands but when I listen to a band explore so many moods
and flavours I have to put it into context, even just for my own
sake, and here there is a nice touch of Yawning Man in the dead cool
shuffle and spacey clean guitar. Yet the vocals maintain that
'Dirt'-era Layne Staley quality. This is the kind of thing you want
when you are in the mood for something chilled and trippy,
wake-and-bake music.
“Stoneage Wastseland”, a reference
to The Who maybe? Regardless, it's a solid mix of simple riffing and
a revival of the guitars of eternal sustain that creates the
wonderful space rock vibe before the fuzz is engaged and we get into
some up tempo fuckin' rock in the vein of Truckfighters. Things
settle down with some sweet acoustic work on final track “Phantom
Limb”. There is a lovely finality about this track, it would fit
well laid over the final scenes of 'Almost Famous'.
At the end of the day after spending
hour after hour in the college library is not the best time to review
music; better to be fresh and enthusiastic than tired and looking at
the bed with an almost sexual attraction. Yet despite this
circumstance, this was still a joy to listen to. This record crosses
the borders of smoking music, drinking music and thinking music and
that is some accomplishment! All done DIY if you didn't catch it the
first time! Well done Aver and although we're a whole hemisphere and
many time zones away, I wish you lads all the best.
Aver, Self Titled, 2011.
Rating: 8/10
Standout Tracks: Acid Rain, Decay,
Stoneage Wasteland.
For Fans of: Eastern Crank, Kyuss,
Truckfighters.
Listen Here:
http://soundcloud.com/aversound
Edward Gerard Brophy
bornagainnihilist@gmail(DOT)com
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