‘Vice’ and ‘Subba Culcha’ may be all over these guys already, but is their debut EP a masterwork in atmospheric dream-pop with dark undercurrents through which electronic threads bubble over soaring prog-tinged post-rock, or a rather extravagant piece of posturing? At what point does soulful and sincere become overwrought, indulgent and wanky?
It’s a fine line, make no mistake, and these guys teeter on the tightrope that divides magnificence and ostentatiousness. Technically, it’s immaculate, of course. But does it move you, or do you respond to it because you feel it’s trying to move you? There isn’t a note or an emote out of place, but for all its cinematic grandeur and introspective intensity, it somehow feels rather too calculated, a bit too AOR. Add that to the arty ‘underwater splash’ cover image and the beards and you have to wonder if ‘those goddamn hipsters’ mightn’t be closer to the mark.
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Those Goddamn Hippies Online
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