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It
takes a while for Easter to get comfortable, to find its proper
place. After a first listen its hooks come as elusive and the
immediacy that was so evident in the previous Oxeneers or the
Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home, seems to have been
replaced by a dismissive flatness. First cut “Mescaline Eyes”
adheres to the same mold of any of the best of Oxeneers’
songs, and the same could be said about any of the first six
tracks, but a few tracks into the record it’s clear that TAAS’S
latest is a more complex and moodier work. As such it takes
more of the listener to fully experience.
For starters this
record works better as a whole; it flawlessly flows, but taken
by pieces sounds lacking. Each track sort of represents a
particular mood, which isolated lacks the setting and with it
half its charm. The musicianship is once again top notch, with
each string instrument beautifully arranging high and low pitch
tones, while the somewhat deadpan vocals of Steve Snere remain
ambiguous and expressive within their own confines. Let’s not
forget the prominent space that the keyboards take in TAAS’S
sound, in a live setting and in record they give the band
certain dynamics that put these Seattle noise addicts in a class
that’s all their own.
It is not to
say that Easter cannot be appreciated track by track, but
I want to propose the listener the opportunity to enjoy the full
record at once; non-stop, without interruptions and if possible
turned up to 11 and with headphones. To that, add a few spins
before you’ve made up your mind, because it is clearly going to
take more than a shallow listen to comprehend. Only after
getting acquainted, Easter reveals its true colors; it is
a devastating work of ambitious hardcore or whatever you feel
like calling it.
Think of the sub genre sat next to post
hardcore, and project it ten blocks down the road. Five songs
into Easter, the mood is lowered, and the band seems on a
mission to take you along through a wide palette of emotions.
Easter actually almost peaks with the acoustic “Lady North”
which immediately recalls Pink
Floyd’s majestic mellow mood
swings; once the song breaks in full-fledged mold only one thing
is in evidence; Easter is no longer only the term for a
Christian holiday.
OFFICIAL SITE
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