There's undoubtedly a formula in creating a shoe gazer's soundtrack. It requires a healthy disregard for your audience, a distant love of Spector-ish pop and an orchestra of distortion and fuzz flattening anything in its path. It's chaotic and insensitive and when made honestly, can be earth-shatteringly beautiful.
A Place to Bury Strangers are indeed no strangers to this. Having toured alongside modern day pioneers, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, BRMC and their own musical heroes The Jesus and Mary Chain, APTBS have had time to focus and hone in on their sound. And in a day and age when bands feel the obligatory urge to switch and change sounds with the fashion, it's always a delight when artists stick to their guns, without so much as a contemplative doubt.
Lucky for this particular band, they capture the enormity of the genre brilliantly. There are moments of real sonic madness. Album opener, Alone, is the closest you'll get to a single, or a pop song, if you will. Dissolved starts off like a lost Interpol track and then moves back into familiar Jesus and Mary Chain territory. The album slides in and out of chaos and beauty. Rage and sadness. Closing track Slide, however, provides the most interesting sonic shift on the album. Edging into electronic territory and ever so fragile, it had me suddenly wishing more tracks had followed in its path. Hopefully an indicator of where they'll head next.
In the meantime, Worship is a claustrophobic, focused and deviant album. It will no doubt inspire those already worshipping at the alter of Shoegazing. However, unsurprisingly, most will find this a little difficult to swallow.
But I can guarantee that isn't in any way a focal point for A Place to Bury Strangers, instead they allow for the power and madness of their music to be appreciated by whomever is brave and open minded enough.
Review by Golden Lady
A Place to Bury Strangers are indeed no strangers to this. Having toured alongside modern day pioneers, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, BRMC and their own musical heroes The Jesus and Mary Chain, APTBS have had time to focus and hone in on their sound. And in a day and age when bands feel the obligatory urge to switch and change sounds with the fashion, it's always a delight when artists stick to their guns, without so much as a contemplative doubt.
Lucky for this particular band, they capture the enormity of the genre brilliantly. There are moments of real sonic madness. Album opener, Alone, is the closest you'll get to a single, or a pop song, if you will. Dissolved starts off like a lost Interpol track and then moves back into familiar Jesus and Mary Chain territory. The album slides in and out of chaos and beauty. Rage and sadness. Closing track Slide, however, provides the most interesting sonic shift on the album. Edging into electronic territory and ever so fragile, it had me suddenly wishing more tracks had followed in its path. Hopefully an indicator of where they'll head next.
In the meantime, Worship is a claustrophobic, focused and deviant album. It will no doubt inspire those already worshipping at the alter of Shoegazing. However, unsurprisingly, most will find this a little difficult to swallow.
But I can guarantee that isn't in any way a focal point for A Place to Bury Strangers, instead they allow for the power and madness of their music to be appreciated by whomever is brave and open minded enough.
Review by Golden Lady
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