Friday, February 09, 2007

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

The Asteroid #4 - An Amazing Dream

The Asteroid #4 - An Amazing Dream
(2007 - Rainbow Quartz)

On these frosty overcast days of mid-winter I usually seek out the familiarity of simple melodies heavily blanketed in swirling reverb. Something airy yet grounded, melancholy but not self-indulgent and, most of all, something that can be at once expansive and sparse. These sounds are my aural comfort food. On their fourth album, An Amazing Dream, Philadelphia's The Asteroid #4 have delivered such an album.
Having never heard of The Asteroid #4 I'm thankfully spared the bias some critics have from the band's apparently awful preceding effort. All I know is that I love An Amazing Dream's billowing...um, dreaminess. Most of the songs are build around a strumming acoustic rhythm guitar peppered with the shimmering jangle of an ultra-effected electric. The ethereal airiness is kept firmly cemented by a grounded yet unassuming rhythm section. The drums and bass work together as an inseparable unit, keeping the momentum brisk and oak solid.
The album only has two real missteps. One is "Into the Meadow", a dismally white bread murder ballad that is very repetitive, very boring and very long. The other is tacked onto the end of the "Belong", the epic closing track. A few minutes after the song ends there is a two and a half minute session of pretentious ramblings about Alan Ginsberg, and yes it is as lame as it sounds.
The Asteroid #4 owes much of their sound and fashion to bands like The Trash Can Sinatras, The Ocean Blue and The Church. In fact An Amazing Dream contains a faithful rendition of The Church's "In Your Eyes". If this were released 17 years ago you'd probably Dave Kendall introducing a video for "Ask Me About Pittsburgh" or "Go Ahead" on 120 Minutes. And with that last reference I betray my age and will now take my leave, thank you and good night.