QUIVER

Review originally posted at www.prog-sphere.com

Nice mellow psych-alt-prog!

Let me clarify something before we get confused, the band I am reviewing right now is Phlox, from Malaysia, please do not confuse with the Estonian avant-jazz band with the same name. Well, so let's start. 'Quiver' is the name of the first full-length album of this young band, who had previously released a five-track EP back in 2009; in this occasion, they reunited ten compositions in which we can listen to their influences and style. This four-member band is trying to reach more listeners, so if you can go to their bandcamp site and help them, they would really appreciate.

So this 2011 release begins with 'Quiver (part 1)', which has a soft guitar in the few seconds, which later will be accompanied by drums and atmospheric keyboards. A minute later the atmosphere becomes tenser, with some kind of drama on it, we can appreciate it when the intensity increases. Later it slows down and finishes as it began. The second track is entitled 'Speak to me', here we can listen to a more aggressive sound created by guitars, which at the same time, and helped by the other instruments create a kind of soft psychedelic sound. In this track the vocals (in English) appear for the first time.

'High & Low' reminded me a bit of Gong due to the quirky voices and to the spacey and psychedelic sound in the beginning. Later it slows down a little bit with those mellow vocals, but only for a few seconds because it changes again to that increased intensity where the psych tones reappear. The track intercalates moods, the calm and the intense ones. 'Morning Dreams' is a shorter piece with acoustic guitar and background keyboards, that create a nice and joyful sound.

It leads to 'Quiver (part 2)' which happens to be the longest composition with almost eight minutes length. It softly starts and little by little progresses while the seconds pass, we can appreciate how it begins with a calm, barely listenable sound, and later becomes more intense. However this is a laid-back track, with charming vocals and delicate drums. The guitar work (both, acoustic and electric' is really good, nothing complex but always accurate. Though it is a long song, it does not really have notable changes, the sound and rhythm is the same during almost all the time.

'Everything Kills You' is another shorty with acoustic guitar and that joyful sound of the previous short track. 'Where You Go' is one of those tracks with a sound closer to alternative or indie rock, this also reminds me of their EP, with this mellow, relaxed and friendly sound. This is a truly enjoyable song, though it is far from the progressive rock realm, but, who cares?

'Inside, Outside' retakes the spacey, atmospheric and soft psychedelic sound they previously shared. For the first three minutes the structure does not really changes, however in the last two it becomes more interesting, with some guitar riffs and a more intense sound. I dare say this is one of their finest moments, though I don't like how it all of a sudden ends with the drums, I would have preferred a fade out.

'Bring me there' is the third and final short track with acoustic guitar, keyboards and joyful sound. And it leads to the final song of the album which is entitled 'Quiver (part 3)'. It is actually my favorite of the quivers, due to its dramatic, yet emotional sound. I love how It is progressing, creating a wonderful psychedelic, spacey and atmospheric feast. Very good decision to finish the album with this track.

Phlox are an interesting and promising band, I am sure we will listen of them in the near future, meanwhile, spread the word and get their music.

Enjoy it!

Bands from obcure places around the world are hard to pinpoint, but here is a case from a group from Malaysia.Phlox hail from the country's capital Kuala Lumpur, led by singer, keyboardist and guitarist Hakim Tahar.Hanafi Rahman and Syazwan Sazali handle the electric guitar and bass respectively, while the drumming is a responsibility of Ahmad Zulikhwan.Phlox recorded an EP in 2009 and released their full-length debut ''Quiver'' in 2011, available on Bandcamp.

With a clear tendency on reproducing some of the 70's atmosphere, Phlox propose an attractive, dreamy and extremely psychedelic style of playing with very strong links to the powerful sound of NEKTAR and also references to the always inspiring PINK FLOYD approach.Their tracks are rather simplistic with very good guitar parts, often in a dual mode, producing great grooves and narcotic moods.The use of keyboard effects and the excellent voice of Tahar make them even more irritating.The solid, flawless, almost metronomic rhythm section does a great job and the music alternates between soaring rhythmic passages, low-tempo psychedelic textures with an early-70's vibe and noisy scratching guitar runs, surprisingly all work together for a quite optimistic point of view as a listening experience.Combined with the beautiful vocal lines, the result is often amazing, not very personal, but still offering very good moments.The material is pretty memorable, while a couple of tracks contain even straighter vintage stylings with the use of organ.

Very good debut and certainlty a group to keep an eye on.Energetic, passionate and memorable Psych/Prog with true respect to the old school.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

This PHLOX is a progressive psychedelic space rock band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and not to be confused with the jazz-fusion band from Estonia with the same name. This band formed in 2008 and came together while the members were experiencing insomnia as college students. The members are Ahmad Zulikhwan (drums, percussion), Syazwan Sazali (bass), Hanafi Rahman (guitars) and Hakim Tahar (vocals, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars) and to date has only released on EP and two full-length releases all of which are available on Bandcamp.

Following the EP release simply titled "EP" in 2009, PHLOX recorded its debut album QUIVER which was released two years later in 2011 which hosts ten well produced space rock tracks that offer a nice melodic flow of catchy tunes along with atmospheric keyboards, lush acoustic guitars in the vein of "Wish You Were Here" era Pink Floyd along with the occasional electric guitar soloing. Many tracks echo a folky vibe as the chord progressions are generally pop oriented with catchy grooves and nice progressions. The title track appears as a three part series with the first beginning the album, the second serving as an intermission in the middle and the third providing the outro. These tracks are the trippiest and allow the most experimental.

There's a nice range of styles on QUIVER although the main emphasis is on the space rock textures. "Quiver (Part One)" begins the album with a hypnotic repetitive flow of a clean guitar progression and chilled out drum roll which sets the tone for the entire album as it instantly provides a melodic hook accompanied by sailing atmospheres and trippy sound effects. "Speak To Me" follows and displays the more rock oriented side of the band with electric guitar riffs and a faster tempo in the vein of heavier Pink Floyd styles but the band does not sound like Floyd at all and provides a unique mix of pop hooks with some progressive elements that make this sound unique. Hakim Tahar's vocal style is also distinct as its rather reserved but very emotive as well.

"High & Low" continues the faster tempo but dishes out a healthy supply of tripped out effects that recall some of the space whispers of Gilli Smyth from Gong and some effects that wouldn't sound out of place on the "Radio Gnome Trilogy." "Morning Dreams" is a short ditty that has a Hawaiian type of slack key guitar strumming session with some extra spaced out keyboard effects. "Quiver (Part Two)" is the longest track just shy of the eight minute mark and finds the main melody of the first track making a reprise and crafts a much longer song with vocals as well as more variations in the theme. "Everything Kills You" also has a Polynesian slack key guitar folky strum accompanied by trippy keys and Floydish guitar parts as well and sort of leads into "Where You Go" which is so catchy it could be a pop hit. On the same level as some of the crossover prog of 70s Supertramp. Great melodies.

The remaining tracks pretty much follow the established pattern with the final chapter of "Quiver" is actually very noisy and aggressive. This is a really fun album! It's one of those joyful type of space rock albums and not dark and dreary at all. The melodic pop hooks make this instantly catchy and the spaced out effects keep this soaring with atmospheric downpours while there's just enough rock to keep this from becoming dream pop as well as subtle progressive elements to keep the tracks from becoming cheesy. The one element that sounds utterly unique for a space rock band is the inclusion of the Hawaiian slack key guitar strumming parts which may or may not be a thing in Malaysia which is a unique mix of cultures from the surrounding areas however those are short segments and the majority of this album is set on spaced out mode. Very strong debut and i love this!