North Atlantic Oscillations Grappling Hours (Kscope)
3/5
By: Liane Escorza
So North Atlantic Oscillation have been causing a stir lately due to support appearances at Porcupine Tree and Explosions in the Sky gigs. I must admit I get very sceptical when buddy bands pat each other on the shoulders, but then again, where do aspiring musicians really hope to get to without the support and encouragement of their peers?
Yet my first listen didn’t bring with it exactly the type of excitement Charlie experienced when unwrapping Mr. Wonka’s chocolate bar. The opening ‘Marrow’ is pretty much a Sigur Ros song extremely reformatted and shortened, and ‘Cell Count’ and ‘Audioplastic’ incorporate the pop features that seem to be necessary to be played Radio 2010 – catchy, heavy in electronics, atmospheric in echoes, though slightly on the ‘too repetitive’ side for my taste. There is the expansive quality of Radiohead in ‘Some Blue Hive’ with playful guitars on loop and a surprising ending of horn and wind instruments, which are cut far too short. ‘Ceiling Poem’ indulgently creates suspense, the search for anticipation, the intriguing build-up, finally crashing on a full body of dark tones.
But it isn’t until ‘77 Hours’ that North Atlantic Oscillation show their true selves – it’s as if here they suddenly grow their beards and ditch their naïveté. Through the manic percussion, derailed keyboards and hazy vocals, ‘77 Hours’ holds the pulsating supreme power of character and success. And from then onwards it rocks and rolls, ‘Star Chamber’ and ‘Drawing Maps from Memory’ being the bombs of gothic rock in pastoral green fields.
Surprising and intriguing in format and force, this band and this album have the potential to distract in the best of ways – we look forward to seeing how much more to them there is than merely being an amalgamation of their influences.
Artists in this article: North Atlantic Oscillation
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