VOLUME ONE

They are Perhaps, a power trio from the United States that has entered in the progressive rock scene in the last two years, with a couple of eclectic albums whose title are simply "Volume One" and "Volume Two", now I am focusing on the first one, which is the one you should dig first if you want to know this peculiar band. This album as I told you, consists on only one song which of course has a lot of subdivisions, passages that you will notice while listening to the 37 minutes it offers.

It is evident that a band whose debut album has a long composition must have talented musicians, and Perhaps have them, guys that really know what to do, what to play in the correct moment and what to transmit; their compositional skills are pretty good, you can realize of it here. So it is very brave for a band to do this, and if the result is good, as it actually is, then one has to thank them for it. If you are fan of the math-rockish side of progressive rock (or the proggy side of math-rock) then you will have a good time with Perhaps.

Important to mention that despite the band consists of three members, there are some guest musicians in this record, playing different instruments. Well, the music starts really soft, with a couple of minutes of tranquility, almost silence, but then the explosion appears and the musicians brilliantly give a dose of energy captured in a math rock style, you can tell it by the guitar sound, which is greatly complemented by fast bass and drums. Also, you will find countless time changes that are not necessarily separated in passages or movements, they bring us sudden changes from one second to another, but what is the best, is that none of those changes harm the music, they come naturally and one can easily enjoy what is listening to.

After eight minutes the first of the "non-conventional" instruments appear, it is a saxophone that puts a delicious sound over a cool repetitive bass rhythm and background, here the sound is not really post or math rock, but jazzy or even avant-garde, letting us know that Perhaps don't actually fit in just one label, because they know how to mix up different styles into one single song without being abrupt. A jam can be heard later, the guys become crazy and they do what they want to do, one can only listen with open ears and enjoy this loony sound.

There is a weird moment at minute 13 when it seems they lose their nerves and began to create just noise, but it only lasts some seconds, later the music returns to its math-rock sound, but well, wait a minute because it lasts again some seconds and then the music changes and constantly mutates in question of seconds, taking elements of hard rock in moments, however, their math style prevails. After 19 minutes there is a moment I like because there is a brief stop, then a kind of electronic passage but when it disappears a wonderful trumpet appears while bass and drums mark the rhythm, the sound of the trumpet is exquisite, as well as the music, which is constantly flowing, progressing until it becomes in a space rock tune blended with jazz. It is amazing to see how they managed to reach this style after 20 minutes of a salad of sounds. Amazing!

Well, as you can imagine the changes continue, this blend of styles and craziness given by these three guys is wonderful, so one can have a feast of good music provided by Perhaps in these 37 minutes, however, I believe there are some moments in which their ambitious (in the positive sense of the word) took their nerves and created some seconds of music that can be skipped, but well, there are just brief moments, in general their work is simply wonderful. At minute 30, there is a considerable stop, the fast and energetic sound vanishes, there is a silence and the song begins to build a new structure. Then little by little new elements are being implemented, the music progresses and in for six or seven more minutes Perhaps bring us a gentler post rock sound driven by guitar, which later is beautifully accompanied by strings such as violins, viola and cello, offering a wonderful and emotional post rock passage until the music finishes.

This is a great work by Perhaps, a challenging album whose result is very positive, eclectic, and comfortable for fans of progressive rock and post rock. If you like this kind of long tracks in which you will listen to a blend of different musical styles, you will love this. Almost a masterpiece.

Enjoy it!

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