Minimalist DelusionThem Airs - Echo Park Bomb City (2019)
The second (or third...?) album by these quirky fellas, from the self-proclaimed "most scientific band in Connecticut". I went for some three days listening to nothing but nine albums throughout the day, and this was one of them. Probably the one I kept on listening to for the longest before dropping, like I did almost every album from that run. The guitar play is really fun and kinda comforting too
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Get the Dutch
Is that a Wurlitzer? Either way, the moment when the vocal kicks in we're already in a dreadful tide of song, and it's so cathartic when it all finally crumbles down
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Operations
Thankfully we're in for a fluffier mood next track, and the slow pace helps this nice number come afloat. I'm not sure what chord progression that is, but the guitars make for such a tender texture that it makes me happy every time it comes on =w=
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Diamond
Another bright tune! Maybe we're in for a not-so-bleak album? (no.) I really like it when it goes into the B-sections, which seem to soar through repetition
□□■■■ | 12
Me and the Birds
the funyy Sisyphus song!! I never really thought much of this one, even after the memes, but it's a fair pick, being such a short morsel of a depressing song
□■■■■ | 9
Travelogue
The title is pretty fitting since this song feels like it traverses many different places using only one strum over and over again. Very spacey song :3
□□■■■ | 11
The Phantom Facing Me
To me this one blends into the others prtty well, maybe like the titular phantom. It's quite cozy itself, with its dreamy, diffuse lyrics and gentle guitar work.
□■■■■ | 3
Cooking
Ah, this riff. It encapsulates the Duster touch in a way I struggle to explain. It's even cooler when they swap it for a single chord instead, over and over, until it's back to base. Also commendable is how the lyrics really only have like two unique bars
□■■■■ | 7
Unrecovery
Another awesome example of their use of one riff throughout a whole song, adding dimensions with other textures - in this particular one, it's their drummer's voice in place (I love you Jason Albertini)
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The Breakup Suite
Heart-breaking. That's how this chord cycle registers in my head, especially paired with the cryptic story the lyrics tell (aside from that part in the middle, that one's pretty clear to understand xD). It's so traightforward, yet so effective... only they manage to do it
□■■■■ | 8
Everything You See (Is Your Own)
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□■■■■ | 10
Now It's Coming Back
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Auto-Mobile
It's difficult to grasp just how slow this song is. From the very first second, when that guitar swells in, it feels like some sort of fever dream, aided by the brushes used on the drums. With its low fidelity, and those faintly strummed guitars, it excites something warm yet primal very deep in my soul, all the way until it quite inevitably collapses