COME ON IN

I cannot help comparing Airbag with the fellow countrymen Gazpacho. Them, Coldplay and Radiohead. Add a bit of Pink Floyd to the mix and you get this demo EP.

This EP has four medium long songs which is guitar and vocals based. The quality is not that great. Neither is it bad either. The lack of some really good songs is the problem here. The end result is an EP that comes across a almost droning. The tempo is slow and the songs are based on moods and associations.

This EP is decent to good throughout. Unfortunate, it leaves no impressions and that's why there is a lack of many stars at the bottom line. But as a free download, it is both worth the time and the hard-drive space.

2.5 stars

The name of Airbag immediately reminds me to the first OK Computer track, and I don't really know if Radiohead inspired or has something to do with this Norwegian band, however, in this first EP I can hear some hints of them. Once again I went through the archives and realized that this band had their debut EP free-to-download, so I clicked and saved. And now I can say that I liked what I heard.

The progressive rock tendencies at least in this album are pretty limited, though they do exist, I found more the alternative rock side here, the result is a mellow mixture of both, which was good to my ears. This four-song EP entitled "Come on in" is actually my introduction to the band, right now I ignore if their following works have the same sound or not, but well, I will discover it soon.

It opens with "Come on in", which is a soft piece with relaxing atmospheres. The guitar is very delicate, so is the voice, which by the way reminded me a little bit to U2 at first. The song goes pretty slow, there are not so many changes, but it has a sweet sound overall. Turn the lights off and listen to it, you will like it.

"Moon Song" has a quite similar sound, so the band do have an own style. Here I like the acoustic guitar and the always present atmospheric background, made by keyboards. The five minutes may sound repetitive, but I actually think the song could have been more exploded, I mean, a couple of minutes more would have been perfect. This dreamy sound creates some images in my mind, and works as a relaxer.

"Take Me" almost reaches the seven minutes, it is the longest track on this EP. What I like here is that it gradually progresses, because it starts so slow and maybe weak, but little by little it becomes more interesting. After three minutes there is like a pause and then piano and vocals appear. Later it returns to its original form, and gradually progresses once again, there is also a short keyboard appearance which adds a very appropriate sound.

"Crying Out" is on the other hand, the weakest track here. Not bad at all, but not as good as the other three. The repetitiveness here does not really help getting involved in the song, actually, it makes you lose interest. This is also the closest track to alternative ? indie sound.

Well, I am happy with this Airbag EP, in spite of the first time I listen to it I thought it was weak, with more spins it grew up on me, and now I am interested in more of their work. My final grade, three stars.

Enjoy it!