Album Reviews

Aloa Input

Anysome

2013-11-13

It's always satisfying and thought-provoking when album art is evocative of the music it represents. The cover of Bavaria based group Aloa Input's debut record Anysome portrays a verdant jungle scene, but the presence of an eyeball lurking through the shrubbery, assorted cacti blooming within the trees, and a bird that resembles a red-breasted robin all provide a subtly surrealistic quality; not the unsettling, mind-bending surrealism like a Dali scene adorned with melting clocks and mutant creatures, but rather one fraught with pointed whimsy like Magritte's "The Treachery of Images." This is an oddly accurate visual to accompany Anysome's varied influences.

Instrumentation is typical for an indie rock trio: analog and digital percussion is laced into the slithery, skating guitar framework and flourishing vocal harmonies are delicately threaded in. But within this soundscape other worldly timbres emerge (most memorably with the marimba droplets on gorgeous track "This Must Be The Age") and distinguish Aloa Input from the overwhelming wave of similar bands in the genre. As their label puts it, Anysome is comprised of "guitars from Cape Town to Portland, beats from Berlin to Chicago, and vocals from NYC to Düsseldorf." Aloa Input's first attempt is a fruitful one, and is all around a legitimately enjoyable listen.

Recommended Tracks: #5 "This Must Be The Age", #9 "Radio", #12 "Someday Morning"

Sigmund Steiger

Quick Links:

all reviews | all rock reviews

More reviews tagged #Rock

reviewed 05/2010
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Together
reviewed 02/2006
BUNKBED NIGHTS
Last Show CDR
reviewed 02/2011
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
GO GO BOOTS
reviewed 05/2015
Kate Pierson
Guitars And Microphones
reviewed 05/2007
VARIOUS ARTISTS
A Tribute to Joni Mitchell
reviewed 07/2006
THE LONG WINTERS
Putting the Days to Bed

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.