Argentine - In Other Fictions
The debut album by Argentine, In Other Fictions, draws from shoegazer greats such as Ride and Slowdive, with echoing guitars creating a warm blanket
This music is fantastically soothing. Barely brushed drums and heavily reverbed guitars open the album on "The World Gets Younger," luring the listener dangerously close to sleep. But before there is a chance to drift off the drums pick up and the guitar undergoes a bit of overdrive. This isn't really a new shtick. The debut album by Argentine, In Other Fictions, draws from shoegazer greats such as Ride and Slowdive, with echoing guitars creating a warm blanket into which singer Ian Carpenter snuggles his vocals.
As a reviewer, I find myself in a sticky place with this release. I am a fan of this type of dreamy, ethereal music, so I am predisposed to like it. Is it bad that this band is derivative in some ways? Sure, no one is directly ripped off, but this is certainly territory that has been tread upon before, most recently by bands such as the Verve and Starflyer 59. Argentine, though, manage this terrain with the skill of an experienced mountaineer at least equal to their predecessors. The music is very emotional throughout, creating an alienated sense of longing, like someone watching the world through a TV inside an ice cave in Antarctica.
A highlight of the album is the keyboard soaked "Fresh Inventions." Organs weave in and out of the music, momentarily offering light in the melancholy fog of the song. Still, the unfortunate drawback of this album, as with much ambient-styled music, is that it can get a bit droning after some time since almost every song follows the same pattern of slowly building, fragile music eventually released in a crushing crescendo. Fortunately, the album is only eight tracks long, so there is little time for it to become repetitive, and there are small touches in each song that make them unique from each other. The aforementioned organ in "Fresh Inventions," the sorrowful string section in the title track, the somewhat ironic handclaps in the bridge of "Slumberside" (another highlight song), and a (dare I say) jaunty guitar line in "Westerly." Each of these are actually quite fantastic touches.
This is really an album primarily to be enjoyed by those already converted to this style of hazy, lethargic music. Fans of Low and other slowcore bands will wet their pants with joy over this music, but it isn't enough of a standout to convert any new followers from the rock and roll crowd. It is, however, very good for a self-released debut album, and I personally enjoy it. Given their relative youth in the music world, Argentine has plenty of time to grow from this already beautiful sapling. And in the current world of the "rock revival" and the post-post punk of bands like Liars and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, music of such delicate beauty is desperately needed.
(Pehr)