NEWBORN SUN

Nice but not memorable debut EP.

Here in Mexico I've been reading a lot of comments regarding this US band named CHON, a relatively new project by four musicians whose likes go from emo core to math rock, passing through djent and even metal. Later I saw they were included here in Prog Archives so I immediately wanted to know more about them and of course, listen to their music. Fortunately, I found their first EP available at their bandcamp site, because I wanted to dig them from the very beginning, before listening to their first full-length album.

What I found here in Newborn Sun, is a nice bunch of seven short instrumental songs that gives us the band's first steps. Labelling them as a math rock band fits perfectly, however there are moments in which they tend to bring sounds closer to emo and hardcore. The music is easy to dig, so anyone could listen and enjoy these 15 minutes without feeling bored, however, I believe there are not outstanding moments, no memorable track that I would highly suggest, no, but it is a nice first effort which marks the start of a new project, and that I assume led to the production of their first full-length album.

My favorite tracks were "Fluffy" and "Dew". I suggest this EP to math rock and djent lovers, you will have a good time. Enjoy it!

Frank Zappa is supposed to have once said, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture", a statement usually meant to suggest the futility of shackling any creative act in the straightjacket of words.

But I've always considered it the other way around: as an endorsement of unlikely artistic collisions. What's wrong with dancing about architecture anyway? Sounds like a noble pursuit, to this left-footed wallflower. And what would a dance about architecture even look like?

I can't answer that. But I can show you what it might sound like, by introducing an absurdly young but accomplished quartet from San Diego calling themselves CHON.

As of this writing the band hasn't been around very long. But in only a few short years they've managed to attract a devoted cult audience for their modest yet elegant Math Rock algorithms: nimble twin-guitar filigrees arranged with pinpoint dexterity and precision. CHON play fast and they play hard, but at the same time are incredibly light on their collective toes, dancing around each note with an easy grace that belies the intricacy of the musical architecture.

They certainly don't believe in wasting anyone's time, either. Three of the seven titles on the band's debut effort clock in well short of one-minute, with the briefest of these - the colorfully titled "wut the.. (poop)" - barely cracking the ten-second mark. The entire package is less than 14-minutes long, hardly enough to even qualify as an actual EP, but ideal for busy Progheads with finely calibrated attention spans.

In the end this initial recording may not add up to anything more than a quick tease, presented with tentative expectations. Consider it a surprise valentine from a secret admirer you didn't know existed.