December 28, 2017

7-11 begins with a jam out of the “howl” section. The jam flows pretty naturally into the apple buttered toast section of Dribble, though not a whole lot notable going on here. The “jam” out of Dribble back into 7-11 is similarly very fluid, but nothing great. The drop back into 7-11 is, in a word, painful. They jam out of 7-11 into the SITA section of Astronaut, and this turns into a great type 1 jam. It’s predictable, but that’s not necessarily terrible. The Astronaut jam is okay. There are parts of this that I thought were about to hit on some phenomenal themes, but ultimately they just never hit that next level for me. SJSS has a type 1 jam that does nothing. The Reactor jam is weird. No other way to put it. I’m not sure what they’re going for here, but it misses the mark for me in a major way.

Astronaut begins with an atmospheric sound from the entire band. Both Magner and Barber have a bunch of effects on their tones, using a healthy dosage of reverb and delay. Each note echoes out, bouncing off the other echoes. After a few minutes, they swap themes, but Barber and Magner continue their interplay. Around the 13-minute mark, Magner hits on an arpeggiated lead that Barber deftly dances around. Around 17 minutes in, the band switches to a more dreamy sound, with a clear shift from minor to major keys. This turns into a relatively basic I-II-III-IV theme, but I actually think this works pretty well. The jam in Air Song is okay, if predictable. This is something of a let down after the jam which preceded it. As they get closer to Sven, this gets markedly better. The pre-segue portion of this is worth paying attention. Barber’s tone and phrasing here are great. The jam out of Sven has Allen doing some phenomenal drumwork, utilizing a double-kick. In the first few minutes, Magner has some nice leads, and Barber doesn’t do anything to actively take away from the jam, though I don’t think he adds much either. Eventually they speed up and this turns into a rockier jam, which I didn’t care much for. Sugar Plums begins with a fast, dark, trance jam. This is unusual for this song, but I like these first few minutes. This eventually gives way for a very piano-heavy trance jam. This isn’t really upbeat or dark. Honestly, this feels a bit like just treading water.

Highlights: 7-11 (2), Astronaut (2*), DOTSPF