Labels: self released
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I was pretty intrigued to listen to this when I got it in the mail. It certainly looked the business, with it’s nicely screened brown cover, there was a pretty fair chance that it was going to be right up my alley. My expectations continued to rise with the excellent opening track, the music grooved insistently with a slight math touch, whilst the almost inaudible vocals were lurking right on the edge, popping into earshot now and again. Moments here and there brought to mind bands such as Griver, but perhaps threatening more to explode than actually doing so. The opening track is definitely the highlight of this twelve inch, with the band perhaps lurching a little more towards post rock territory elsewhere. “Glass Ceiling Protege” in particular, breaks in with brushes of wind / waves / cars going past, not entirely sure which. It builds the tension, with a familiar sound to the guitars that you often get with the post rock genre. Eventually it fires off into the more interesting part of the track, exploding with liveliness and urgent vocals for all too brief a period. It captures a pounding rhythm and rides it roughshod to the finishing line. Then they are back to the post rock, the band isn’t shy, they called this one “so post we’re pre”, and they have a stringed instrument in there.
There are elements of Ventid that I really enjoy. For the most part these are when the band really gets flying and breaks out into more hardcore territory. However, “Sunny Day For Youth Culture” has some lovely, warm guitar and talked vocal to help recall Slint and this is pretty special too. I am less inclined to stick with the more pedestrian and predictable post rock moments, but there is enough excitement on this 12″ to make it worth investigation for sure.