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The Megaphonic Thrift

Sun Stare Sound

Written by: HES on 01/04/2015 16:09:00

Hailing from one of the rainiest cities in Europe, The Megaphonic Thrift is one out of many bands trying out shoegazing for size lately. Bergen has slowly become the Norwegian capital of music, cradling mega successes like Röyksopp and Kings of Convenience, so much so that the Norwegian press has dubbed it the "Bergen Wave". However, The Megaphonic Thrift will not likely be the next big thing neither in Scandinavia nor the rest of the world. This, the band’s third album "Sun Stare Sound" simply lacks some of the essential cornerstones of craftsmanship.

The vocals are slurred and hard to detect, but underneath the layers of distortion hides a little bit of light in an otherwise completely dark soundscape, in the shape of Linn Frøkedals vocals. But there’s nothing much else original to them, and they only shine because they are brighter in tone. Apart from that they are the usual, disengaged stylings we know from bands like The Raveonettes – this time just seemingly even less engaged. On top of that bore, Frøkedal is rarely supported by any melody, opting more for a kind of spoken word style, borderlining on unstructured rambling. And although the band manages to create a quite distinct sound, not original, but distinct, this lack of hooks, motifs or any of the other classic songwriting finesses creates a very lackluster and forgettable record: There is nothing here intended to sweep you off your feet or to even mildly engage with you. “Sun Stare Sound” becomes one of those albums that gets played at you, not to you.

On top of that the band has created a 9 song album, where most of them are in the same old pulsating tempi leaving very little for the listener to tell the songs apart. All other possible options for creating nerve is dropped on the floor, except for the small synth breaks in "The Experiment", which honestly doesn't show much experimentation otherwise. Small uplifting psych references in “If You Shiver (Overload)” piques an interest but are dulled fast. I resent the notion that shoegazing has to be this lackluster, emotionless, over edited monster that I know some people in the biz adore. It’s the name of the game that music within this genre is less engaging, but that only means neglecting the few tools left in the box is a deadly sin. There’s not much “Bergen Wave” to this, merely a catatonic ripple.

Download: The Experiment, If You Shiver (Overload)
For The Fans Of: Jessamine, Serena-Maneesh, The Low Frequency in Stereo
Listen: facebook.com

Release date 20.02.2015
YAP Records