PHLOX

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!

It kicks off with "Oscar November", the shortest track of the album. Here we can listen to a song with a mellow rhythm (that's Phlox's charm), nice acoustic and electric guitars, soft drums, but I must admit I don't like the bass notes here at all. This is a purely instrumental track. In "Cover me" the bass is what caught my attention since the first moments, here it gets on well with the rest of the instruments, I feel in the opener song the bass was misguided. This song is much better, a nice blend of musical genres, alt rock and prog rock here with even a touch of post-rockish guitar; this might be pigeonholed as the lightest side of prog.

In "Pale, Blue China" I am afraid they wanted to play a little bit with the recordings, because in the first couple of minutes we can listen to a kind of live song with an amateur sound, but later the quality sound changes and becomes very clean and much more attractive. Female vocals first, and now male ones with a very soft and charming sound, accompanied by excellent acoustic guitar, accurate drums, nice bass lines and flavored by the electric guitar riffs (which are not actually riffs) I like that kind of spacey sound they produce, and also that their music in moments brings me to the past, because it has some slices of 70s sound. In the last 20 seconds female voice returns just as in the first part of the song.

"Rain and what comes after" might be a nice example of what Phlox's music is about, I mean, one can share this particular track and introduce the band to new listeners. It is a nice and mellow track that can be easily enjoyed, and that may relax you. I like a lot the synth creating a kind of wind background here. "Fate" is like the reprise of "Oscar November", I am pretty sure it isn't, but the rhythm and sound is quite similar, with the difference that in this song they put vocals. Another thing I am sure, is that a band like Pink Floyd has to be one of their main influences.

Now, the most challenging composition comes next, with "YWNTS" a 25-minute epic of a salad of sounds that can be easily catalogue as progressive rock, for those who still neglect this band. Well, the start is pretty psychedelic due to the keyboards work. The first three minutes flow deliciously, and then all of a sudden you realize the vocals have joined. Again, some Floydian hints can be appreciated here. I love at 4:20 when the music becomes more aggressive, so not everything is mellow, there are moments in life when one has to strengthen things, in music is the same, and it is very healthy, so the music is not plain. At minute 7 there is a great instrumental passage, totally spacey and psych, if you have good headphones you will have a feast here, just close your eyes and let the music do the rest. I am really satisfied these guys dared to create a track like this, which has its own essence, but also that shares something different that Phlox had never offered before. Different passages are shown, a mixture of colors, nuances and textures, a clear example would be at minute 11 when the music slows down considerably, so you can sit and relax, have a moment of peace. Then keyboards appear again in its psych side, and as you can imagine, the music changes and flows perfectly. An excellent track, the best of the album (the best of Phlox's catalogue, actually), you have to listen to its entirety, because the final minutes are great, more intense and even emotional.

And the album finishes with "The Unknown", which returns to the early Phlox, with that soft and melancholic sound, here one can feel the album is finishing little by little, I mean, there is a constant goodbye feeling. So the album finishes. I like the band took risks so I have to be honest, the long epic track shines by itself, it is THE highlight of the album, while the rest of the songs are below. I like them all, some more than others, but there are like two sides of the album, the one with the short tracks which deserve 3 stars, and the one with the long one that deserves at least 4 stars, so it is like a 3.5 star album. You can listen to Phlox's music at their bandcamp page.

Enjoy it!

The first track is "The Return of the Almighty Pharaoh" and it is the shortest one. An introductory song that does not really shows what Phlox's music is about; this piece is kind of creepy, with some disturbing noises like in a horror film. It finishes, then a 2-second pause and the music returns now with "The Almighty Pharaoh", a song that now offers their essence, their mellow style. We can listen to both, female and male vocals, while an acoustic guitar makes the rhythm, and electric plays some cool notes. The sound is fresh, not far from alt-indie rock, but nor from prog rock either.

"Switch" has once again a fresh sound, they remind me a bit of Stereolab due to its psych and alt hints, and in the last 30 seconds we can listen to a "la, la, la" that is very sticky, easy to remember and sing; I like it." The longest track is "Survive" which almost reaches 6 minutes. It starts with electric guitars making a repetitive and melancholic sound, after some seconds the acoustic one joins, and then bass and drums, all together begin to create a structure, but wait, at 1:30 the music changes and becomes friendlier, with a very tasty sound that will put a smile on your face. A very nice song.

The EP finishes with "Inside, Outside" which later would be part of their first studio album "Quiver". This may be my favorite track here, the keyboards play a main role here, I like its psychedelic touches and how the first minute is so enigmatic; later the other instruments join and create the melody, which is enchanted by the vocals. The song perfectly flows, creating a great harmony and a truly wonderful sound, which means the band has spirit and talent, and that later they would give us material to talk about. A very nice debut EP from Phlox, recommendable for those who like mellow pyshc music. Don't pay attention to the final grade, I don't use to rate with more than 2 stars albums that last 20-less minutes.

Enjoy it!

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.

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!