Album: Girls Sing
Artist: Auktyon
Genre: Avant-Rock
Suggested by: grindy
Familiarity: None. Seems fun though.
1. Profukal - Well, this is jazzy. I can dig some Avant-Jazz today. I really like the rhythms. The ending's a bit campy though.
2. Padal - Aw, man. I'm a sucker for this atmospheric stuff. They somehow manage to make a saxophone sound cool as well. When the volume increases, and the guitars come in, it's really something magical. The vocals are great as well. I think they're building up to an ending, but I look and the song is only halfway over. What can possibly be better than this? Guitar solos, it turns out. There's too much that's great about this song to talk about.
3. Zhdat - I laughed in my head every time he said something that sounded like "c**k" in whatever language it is. This is great, it's got this silly folky sound to it.
4. Rogan Born - This one brings a lot of energy, and packs a big punch. I greatly appreciated the wild piano bits. The drummer is quite good as well. My only complaint would have to be that the hectic feel itself gets old after a little while.
5. Tam-dam - I like the strange flute bit at the start. Just when I started to think the whole song might be flute, the other instruments came in. Perfect timing if you ask me. But for as much beauty as this song commands, it gets stagnant pretty quick. The ending's cool but a little too weird. Overall, this wasn't bad, but did leave me a bit pessimistic.
6. Slova - Well, it's a nice folky tune. Pretty fast and lightweight, this one. I don't know what it is really, it just doesn't suit me. Might be a bit too acoustic for my tastes.
7. Debil - Almost ska this time. It's certainly dancier than the previous tracks. For some reason, it makes me nostalgic. A bit of a cacaphony near the three-minute mark. Despite the wildly experimental feel, it is definitely entertaining. So I'm gonna have to say a liked this one. And I really like the ending as well. Alright, I'm tired, so I'm going to take a break for now. I'll be back tomorrow, but for you I'll be back...
8. Vozle menya - ...right now! The quiet guitars, and soft piano on this one are great, and the soft vocals are excellent as well. It sort of picks up in the middle, and there are little tiny bits played on piano or cello that don't fit with the melody of the song (on purpose). It's actually really cool. The guitars just keep on going softly through all the strange ditties going on around it. Even the vocals don't quite fit. It's slightly off, but it's in good humor. I actually think this one was really interesting.
9. Dolgi - This one is already very funky. Using a jazz guitar tone, and a 60s electric keyboard sound to maximum effect, this song trundles along in a really cool way. I'd say there's even a hint of Talking Heads in the rhythms there. The vocalist mumbles about random stuff, and is extremely jittery. I think if I could understand the lyrics, I would be much more intrigued by this song. As it is, it's basically like an instrumental for me. And it just doesn't work as that. However, it kept me vaguely interested the whole time, so I'll give it a pass.
10. Devushki poyut - At 11 minutes, this song better have something good going for it. It starts with a horn with a strong echo. Then some bits of electric guitar and other instruments enter the quiet jumble. Then, a bass riff comes in, tying all of the noodling into a definite tune. The drums come in as well, grounding the song. The vocalist comes in after a while, and like with the previous song, I really wish I knew what he was saying. He's one of those vocalists that doesn't have a catchy tune going, but instead has a melody more like a backing instrument. Which would not be a problem for me if I could understand what he was saying. In this song, however, there's definitely enough going on for the song to stand without the lyrics. Then it gets pretty jammy. The guitarist starts rocking out, as the rest of the instruments play tunes that sometimes fit, and sometimes are a little off. However, as usual, it just generates more interest in the song. The vocals come back in at the perfect time, and I'm really digging this song. Everything fades out after a while, leaving only some rhythmic whispering. Then, the music comes back in, but a lot softer. I got to give credit to the drummer on this one; he's got a really difficult job. The song picks up a bit, and then calms down a bit. It ends just like it started, with a bunch of noodling, and the horn on an echo. Absolutely brilliant.
I liked this one quite a bit actually. There were parts that were a bit boring, although that was probably mostly because I couldn't understand the language. However, the instruments weren't always lame without the lyrics, and the tracks in which they weren't were the really good ones. Be prepared for plenty of Eastern European influences, and some noodling.
OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10