HEAVY WATER EXPERIMENTS

This album can be seen as the debut of that Los Angeles based duo although they have already worked together formerly named IMOGENE. Here we have melodic Psychedelic and New Art Rock bordering songs - sometimes similar to the earlier Porcupine Tree output but also coupled with an alternative touch here and there. One significant aspect to mention is the decent backing organ and electric piano work all over. Additionally arranged with sensitive vocals this is caring for a really nice somewhat laid back mood alltogether.

HEAVY WATER EXPERIMENTS offer a compact sound - you will nearly fail to detect instrumental solos (with some short exceptions from that rule as for the guitar though if you like to treat it as that). Many songs like the openers Goldenthroat and Mirror the Sky for example are having a floating (sometimes even slight spacey) fundament and also demonstrate an interaction of mellow acoustic and heavier parts mainly based on riffing electric guitars and a punching bass. Anodyne and Neverlove are coming near to a college rock attitude where songs like Clairvoyance and Otherland are sounding like the band was inspired by the Swedish band 'Anekdoten' for a while.

I would also like to mention the great oriental flavoured Octavian - very spacey - mysterious opera vocals are added, excellent bass and keyboard work - a surprising one and stylistically getting out of range. Book Colored Blue is my favourite - knocking at the ten minute mark and merging all the album's positive aspects together at the end. The song offers a wonderful jamming groovy flow, tension-filled - swirling electric piano, psychedelic guitars - last but not least nice tribal percussion adds.

Being aware of this album for a year or so I eventually came back to it from time to time. For one or two the songs may sound a bit unisono in the whole as for the drive and behaviour. I don't mind - like this special smoothy atmosphere with sense of melody they are providing.