Band: Aeroflop
Title: Daycripple
Label: N/A
Release Date: 2005
Review By: Scott L
Tracklisting:
- Surfing Mullet
- Busie Life
- Towel Of Clouds
- Lucky Alive
- Decayed Feelings
- Two Virgins
- Revival Song
- Reaper
- I’m The Virus
Kicking things off with a vintage 70’s sounding instrumental entitle “Surfing Mullet”, you know right off the bat that Aeroflop is poised for world domination. Okay, so maybe world domination is a bit of an overstatement. Particularly since this CD was originally release way back in 2005 and I think we probably would have heard of any world domination kinda thing by now. But it’s still a way hip song… with a way sweet name.
Aeroflop, a 5-piece out of Helsinki, Finland was an indie rock band that aptly fused vintage vibe with modern melody. In case you’re name’s George, or you’re just overly curious by nature, Aeroflop is the previous project of Rami, Lauri, and Sami from the band Delay Trees. For the most part, listening to this 9 song CD had a nostalgic feel that called to mind such bands as The Byrds, Spirit, and even The Beatles. That’s not to say that they’re some kind of wanna be tribute band, they just pull off a sweet retro meets earthy folk meets shoe gazer sorta sound. What’s unique is that Aeroflop incorporates subtle, and at times not so subtle, reminders that you’re not just listening to the oldies stations, but rather a retelling… or better still, a re-imagining of the simplicity and often psychedelic feel of 60’s and 70’s rock. Their sound would fit in well with bands such as The Verve, Glasvegas, or Ra Ra Riot.
Lyrically, there’s not a whole lot of spirituality to the messages put forth on this CD, although God is mentioned on a rare occasion and the liner notes do give “all praise to Jesus”. For the most part the 9 tracks are fairly ambiguous. For that matter, so is the 10th track… the “hidden track”… but don’t tell anyone about that ‘cause I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. At any rate, the songs are more about feel good topics and mellow poetry. Take the song “Decayed Feelings” for example, which says, “now you’ve seen the better part of me and you know how it feels to be a stranger / there’s no one waiving goodbyes / no one carrying my bags / hey now this is really all there is / burned bulbs and decayed feelings / eerie elevators and all those moving carpets / feels like time is going the wrong direction / wrong direction”.
The standout track for me was “Lucky Alive” which struck me as a euro-version of TwoThirtyEight’s song “The Bathroom Is A Creepy Place For Pictures Of Your Friends”. Great song. I also dug the CD opening instrumental which I mentioned at the beginning of this review.
Packaging was first rate. Production was a bit on the lo-fi side… but given the style of music, that could well have been a conscious decision on the part of the band. Retro and lo-fi often go hand-in-hand.
In place of the standard fine print FBI warning, Aeroflop’s “Daycripple” CD contains a fine print message from the band to the listener. It reads, “please enjoy this album in a serene park full of trees, flowers and birds in the middle of the night sitting on a bench with your headphones on with suitable volume. Sometimes it’s good to try this also in the seashore drumming the sand with your fingertips, eyes completely closed. Hope you’ll catch our signal. We hope to see you soon.”
Overall: Aeroflop’s “Daycripple” CD was definitely more aero than flop in my opinion. Smooth sounds abound and the retro vibe provided a pleasant break from the recent onslaught of look alike synth-pop flooding the airwaves. So find it… buy it… and rock it like it’s 2005. But beware of the pistol mouthed pythons. You’ve been warned. Peace.
www.myspace.com/aeroflop