Planelifter is the current band of Ed Artigas, a musical busybody in the Miami metro area who we have also reviewed in the bands Map of the Universe and Bling Bling. To be honest, i do not find this release to be his best work, but there is still much to like here.
Artigas plays guitar and sings. Here he is joined by drummer Albert Morales and bassist Jorge Ubieta, both of whom are veterans of many Miami-area bands, making this is a sort of local supergroup for South Florida. Or, perhaps, a South Floridian version of Sugar, with Artigas channeling his inner Bob Mould.
I actually think that second comparison is pretty accurate, as the music here is a noisy wall of distorted guitar over fast rhythms. I bet this band is fun in concert.
There are seven songs on this EP, and only one of them breaks the four minute mark. Let me go over the standouts.
Thornless is based around a nice slow metallish post-rock riff, the guitars dragged out, sliding along under a ponderous rhythm. But then on Celebutaunt Artigas and friends channel Blur, making noisy Britpop that only lacks the accent. Every time it comes up in the flow of random tunes on my phone, at first i think that it is a song from late-era Jesus and Mary Chain! They do this well.
On The Rift the band really get their Sugar on, the drums thundering away while the guitar seesaws through distortion. Sadly, for some unknown reason, they overdubbed the vocals on this song. Artigas's voice is so far out front that you can hear every breath as he sings, while the band sounds very far away. It is awful production, and ruins what could be a good tune.
But that is the exception. For the most part, Artigas and company know what they are doing. This is catchy pop, it's not going to change the world, but it can be fun nonetheless.
They are giving the EP away for free on their BandCamp page, so why not give it a listen?
|
