TIME REGAINED

NEWSPAPERFLYHUNTING is a Polish post-rock band that formed in Białystok in 2006. The band has released a number of shorter EPs and only a couple albums but so far the number of all combined is about 13. Following 2018's "Time Lost" the band returns as a four member unit with the next logically titled release TIME REGAINED. This one is officially an album but only clocks in at 35 minutes.

This release features five tracks and puts the rock in the post-rock equation with grungy guitar heft and heavy bass and drum parts although there is always a nice atmospheric accompaniment from the keys. In all honesty TIME REGAINED is more in the shoegaze department than anything but comes close to post-metal at times with the dirty guitar diction and post-rock meandering.

The atmospheres are dreamy and when the guitar fuzz is absent sounds rather psychedelic however the heavy grunge guitar yanks it out of dreamland and places it firmly in a shoegazy post-grunge sorta camp. The cyclical loops are hypnotic and and the cleaner guitar parts certainly exude a Mogwai sorta post-rock vibe. There are also some trippy sound effects thrown in from time to time.

The first two tracks are rather bleak and jarring however "Everything's Fine" is more melodic and features a large intro of clean guitars and piano rolls before breaking into power guitar chords. "Hallways" is a typical post-rock track with a Mogwai type template. The best track is the 12-minute closer "Another Island" which showcases excellent atmospheric buildups and more interesting guitar, bass and drum dynamics.

An interesting album but nothing spectacular. The vocals don't work for some reason. The range is limited and i really just don't like the vocal performances on this one. All lyrics are in English btw. Overall i'm not blown away by NEWSPAPERFLYHUNTING. There are interesting moments especially on the last track but more times than not it's too tame for my liking. This album doesn't make me want to explore further into the band's canon either.