Hmmm... this is rather somber and laidback indie rock with lots of interaction between layered guitar riffs that stand apart from one another while still working together, and the songs also contain a lot of dynamic variation between melodic clean passages and harsher, more angular distorted moments, but everything kind of has a dry cohesiveness to it, so nothing gets too extreme in one direction or another. I actually really like most of it aside from the vocals, which I often find to be ineffective. The singing all feels too monotone and forced, with the backup screams not playing a large enough role in my opinion. So... I don't know, I feel that the vocals need to be more emotional and ought to carry a wider range to be effective here. There's no real energy or emphasis to most of the singing at all, most notably in both of the first two tracks ("Simple Emancipation" and especially "Dandelion"), after which things warm up a bit. Which is a shame, because the music is quite good. "Plane" has some loose Fugazi-isms and a more rhythmic edge with basslines playing a more dominant role and the guitars coming off as less traditionally structured and increasingly dissonant, and thankfully the softness of the singing is actually nice in this track (the distant screams adding strong contrast), making it my favorite by far. "Your Head Makes it So" brings in plenty of lushly droning guitar textures and also possesses vocals that are a better fit, despite still flinching from time to time, so I do feel that the singing only needs a little bit of work to really hit the mark. "Fall" and the title track both seem a little more straightforward and memorable in some ways, both structurally and as far as having a little more of a rock thing going on, and I like that. I also dig the production. It's got kind of a lightly raw mid-90's sound happening, where everything sounds really natural and warm, with a dry mix that lets all of the instruments have their own space (the vocals are a little out front but other than that they're pretty much good to go). The rugged edge makes sense and actually works with the panning of the guitars and the overall aesthetic of the music, so I enjoy that. "Fall" comes from a different recording session and is brighter and has more density, which also works well, so... there are a few different avenues that work for this stuff. The disc is packaged in a nice little matte slipcase with cartoon-ish illustrations and crisp text. No lyrics are included, only minimal recording credits and lineup information, so... there's not so much to go on but it does look good. I'm torn on this. I really wish I could appreciate the vocals more, because that's the only thing holding the EP back for me. I'll be curious to hear more from the band, there's a lot of potential here, and I think they'll really come up with some cool material should they continue to progress. "Plane" is a great track, definitely.
[Pop Faction]
Running time - 21:57, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Plane, Fall]
Pop Faction - http://www.popfaction.com
