Spiritualized
Lazer Guided Melodies
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Spiritualized
Lazer Guided Melodies
Dedicated, 1992
RiYL: Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Coldplay |
Lazer Guided Melodies is a sonic milkshake, a blend of polished pop sensibilities, methodical instrumental grooves and luscious melodies with an avant-garde disposition. The album is a category killer, hinting at rock and roll power but giving an overall feel of plush studio restraint, and then traipsing off into experimental trances.
As a songwriter, Pierce (who calls himself Jason Spaceman) opts for the power of a single riff or progression more often than a full verse-chorus-verse arrangement. Spaceman tends to force his hooks into the listener's psyche by milking them for many minutes. But the band is just as likely to orchestrate a rapid decline or downspiral of a song's focus, shoving the progression off a cliff into waves of feedback and decadence.
More often than not, these avalanches of sound resolve into other simple progressions that form the basis for the following song. The superb flow of the album makes it ideal for falling asleep to (if you're willing to let someone named Spaceman guide your dreams).
"If I Were With Her Now" is a determined instrumental that sticks out only two songs into the record. The groove creeps in steadily, working into a dramatic pattern. It then fades out without coming to resolution, but kicks back in with a stronger version, motivating the hook to new heights.
Many of the record's songs follow a similar construction, but the songs do establish themselves from one another, primarily with different vocal hooks or method of pattern breakdown. They do remain close enough to each other to have a hypnotizing effect.
Pierce's eerie, heavily-phased vocal on "Sway" is an unexpected but welcome complement to the beautiful melody and steady rhythm that supports it. Eventually, "Sway" gives way to "200 Bars" without relinquishing its hold on the listener. The closer rains over the listener with a pulsating elegance, satisfied and confident that Lazer Guided Melodies has overcome you.
TROY CARPENTER | Troy Carpenter founded NATN from a Chicago apartment during the ambitious winter of 1998 with co-conspirators Ben French and Jonathan Cohen. After a five-year stint in New York, he and wife Lourdes have recently relocated to Indianapolis, where he spends days listening to music and nights in the kitchen at Elements restaurant. Musical heroes: Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Super Furry Animals. What else makes life worth living: Sushi, Phucty, runs in the park, and the Atlanta Braves.