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The Aesthetics, "Off"
What are the Aesthetics? Tech rock? Noise punk? Overly distortedgarbage? I'd lean towards the latter, though there are some worthwhilemoments to speak of. First off, this is NOT the Aesthetics that youmight find by searching at Ubl.com or Allmusic.com. These are theAesthetics from New Zealand. These are the noisy Aesthetics.
Theirmusic is mostly an instrumental or vocals-garbled wall of distortednoise that occasionally contains a melody. This, their secondfull-length, features a line-up change with the only original mamberremaining being Matthew Middleton on guitars and vocals. All theperformances on the record are recorded with so much distortion, thatit is virtually unlistenable. That, and undecipherable. Basically,unenjoyable. It's like Dick Dale meets the Revillos and the Archers ofLoaf with Trans Am and Mogwai trading off on the mixing duties. Vocalsare double-tracked here and there, but neither are understandable, andit's all so extremely lo-fi and warped that it's laughable andpointless on virtually every track. Vocals and sounds are actuallybroken up, too, so the whole is often uneven. When you hear the hornson "Sufi," you're hoping for a way out. Sadly, there is none. The vocalhistrionics ("OH YEAH!," "UHHH!" and "OWWW!" are common) and sonicconfusion are here to stay. And stay. And annoy. There are some goodmelodies here, on occasion, and a few good uses of effects, but nothingto write home about. Try the sound samples and listen for yourself, butI say stay away. You'll learn nothing, and you'll want the time backyou spent listening.
Theirmusic is mostly an instrumental or vocals-garbled wall of distortednoise that occasionally contains a melody. This, their secondfull-length, features a line-up change with the only original mamberremaining being Matthew Middleton on guitars and vocals. All theperformances on the record are recorded with so much distortion, thatit is virtually unlistenable. That, and undecipherable. Basically,unenjoyable. It's like Dick Dale meets the Revillos and the Archers ofLoaf with Trans Am and Mogwai trading off on the mixing duties. Vocalsare double-tracked here and there, but neither are understandable, andit's all so extremely lo-fi and warped that it's laughable andpointless on virtually every track. Vocals and sounds are actuallybroken up, too, so the whole is often uneven. When you hear the hornson "Sufi," you're hoping for a way out. Sadly, there is none. The vocalhistrionics ("OH YEAH!," "UHHH!" and "OWWW!" are common) and sonicconfusion are here to stay. And stay. And annoy. There are some goodmelodies here, on occasion, and a few good uses of effects, but nothingto write home about. Try the sound samples and listen for yourself, butI say stay away. You'll learn nothing, and you'll want the time backyou spent listening.
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