Rich Duncan
06/14/08, 12:02 AM
Microtia - Distance Is Oval
Record Label: Exigent Records
Release Date: October 1, 2007
Who?
Portland, Oregon based quintet who play an intriguing brand of rock that takes notes from Antenna-era Cave In with hints of Hum and Shiner sprinkled throughout.
How Is It?
Distance Is Oval finds Microtia blending equal parts of big, meaty riffs with soaring, experimental guitar passages with rapidfire percussion. Although the first few tracks did not really strike me until multiple listens later, the Hum-leaning “The Pluto Revival” and “Sleep Eater” were instant attention grabbers. Although some of the tracks seem to adhere to the same formula and bleed together a little bit, the musicianship displayed on this album makes up for these shortcomings. The only other complaint about Distance Is Oval is that while the vocalist’s voice fit’s the music almost perfectly, the vocals are often drowned out by the instruments. Microtia’s Distance Is Oval is a satisfying debut effort that shows a lot of promise and it will be interesting to see how the band builds on the foundations of this EP for a full length effort.
"The Pluto Revival", "Sleep Eater", "Architect"
Cave In, Shiner, Hum
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/microtia)
Record Label: Exigent Records
Release Date: October 1, 2007
Who?
Portland, Oregon based quintet who play an intriguing brand of rock that takes notes from Antenna-era Cave In with hints of Hum and Shiner sprinkled throughout.
How Is It?
Distance Is Oval finds Microtia blending equal parts of big, meaty riffs with soaring, experimental guitar passages with rapidfire percussion. Although the first few tracks did not really strike me until multiple listens later, the Hum-leaning “The Pluto Revival” and “Sleep Eater” were instant attention grabbers. Although some of the tracks seem to adhere to the same formula and bleed together a little bit, the musicianship displayed on this album makes up for these shortcomings. The only other complaint about Distance Is Oval is that while the vocalist’s voice fit’s the music almost perfectly, the vocals are often drowned out by the instruments. Microtia’s Distance Is Oval is a satisfying debut effort that shows a lot of promise and it will be interesting to see how the band builds on the foundations of this EP for a full length effort.
"The Pluto Revival", "Sleep Eater", "Architect"
Cave In, Shiner, Hum
Myspace (http://www.myspace.com/microtia)