Picking Someone's Pockets

Alpinisms
School of Seven Bells
Speak N Spell, 2008
3 stars

Named after a fictitious Colombian pick-pocketing academy, this three-piece (one guy, and twin sisters on vocals) have created an interesting concoction with Alpinisms. One part abrasive shoegaze and two parts dreamy ‘90s electronica, the band’s inspirations are fairly obvious - though let’s face it, they’re not exactly the first band to find inspiration in My Bloody Valentine in 2008. That said, they have brought something nice to the table. The guitar noise is, for the most part, treated as a background texture, giving the songs a clean, dreamy quality. The good songs are pretty damn good – Face To Face On High Places is a standout - but the bad ones are pretty average, such as the confused ‘90s middle-eastern vibe of Wired For Light. Still, it’ll make good background music for hot summer nights in the backyard.

Artwork: A
Some nice collage work and some simple text make for a nice, modern album cover. The pic on the inside of the digipak is a bit average, but that cover art would look amazing blown up huge as a poster or something.

Published in mX, Thursday January 29, 2009.