Ashes Grammar - ASDiG

Ashes Grammar
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
2009
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Remember me saying that I missed a lot of awesome albums last year? Yeah. I bought Ashes Grammar, the band's second album, two or three weekends ago, at the same time I got Hush, and have been listening to it endlessly since. I also just went through the band's very amusing tour diary and downloaded some live tracks, free mp3s, etc etc etc from their website. Not only are these guys one of the most overlooked shoegaze acts I can think of, but they also sound a very cool bunch of people. Probably my favourite band at the moment.

...But getting back to the actual album. To be completely straightforward, it's just mind-blowing and beautiful. Sure, there are little things wrong with it, most notably its having about 51894486 million songs, but that only pushes it a little past an hour. And let me tell you, that is one enjoyable hour.

ASDiG describe themselves as making "dreamy pop" music and I suppose this is a better way to label their style than "shoegaze". From the very beginning of the album, which opens with some shorter tracks before launching into the first actual (regular length? solid?) track, we can tell that this will be very dreamy indeed. Faint, echoing voices float above a background of droning something-or-other before a tambourine enters, stirring up the ambient atmosphere for the upcoming song "Failure".

"Failure" is one of the more eccentric songs on the album— Not to say that the others aren't as creative, but this one is... well... you listen to it. It's bouncy and weird and makes you want to jump up and start clapping and chanting. Annie and Jen sing "Fall forward / Feel failure". Sort of inspirational in a non inspirational way. How this band manages to write a song this weird and get it away with it is beyond me, but hell, it's a blast.

"Curse words", which is what I just said when my computer after my computer randomly decided to crash a second ago and I couldn't remember whether or not I saved a draft of this entry (I did), is some more whispery stuff. It acts as a beautiful interlude before "Close chorus", quite possibly the greatest song on this album. Here, you start wondering if what you're hearing is even real. If maybe all these unearthly sounds you're hearing are just fragments of thought passing through the mind of a dreamer. One who speaks in colour and sees in emotion. Who may not even remember his dream once he wakes up, but will faintly remember the rush of ecstasy and confusion he felt during it. "I don't understand why it's wrong to feel happy...". Ashes Grammar as a whole is very emotionally distilling, although you don't always know exactly what you are feeling.

It's hard not to say the same for the next few songs. "Shy" always gives me chills when I hear it. The layered vocals buried beneath the blurred instruments create such an airy effect that you almost think you'll disappear into it... But then that fiddle jumps out of nowhere and you're back on the surface. And if I honestly had to pick a favourite song on this album, I think it would be "Passionate introverts". It's absolutely flawless and loses me every time. I've been listening to it every morning before school while I'm half asleep and still dreaming...

You could say that "Failure" to "Passionate Introverts" is the greatest section of the album and possibly be right, but there is no excuse to saying that the rest is not worth listening to. Perhaps the largest climax has passed (and really, it's hard to beat that stuff back there), but the album continues its creative streak and churns out some more gems.

"The white witch" starts off sounding like some regular rockin' shoegaze, but is still subject to ASDiG's spell. It's simple and lovely. The band has this distinct sound they stick to all of their songs, but this mold is rather flexible and it gives their music virtually no limitations.

"Close chorus" had a nice little deconstruction and crescendo, but it really doesn't beat what's going on in "Nitetime Rainbows". This song is running all over the place dropping little uncertain hints of this and that, but it definitely knows where it's going (don't question it). By the end you'd think it had already run out of innovative juices, but at around 5:00 we hear the greatest crescendo known to man (don't question that either).

...But before you get a chance to even think on that, "Canalfish" jumps out from its canal and snaps its vicious jaws at you, reminding you that you're just a visitor here. Don't get so comfortable!

Toward the end of Ashes Grammar, the songs start to display some overused concepts repeated throughout the album. Extensive intros, predictable song structure... I can see why people would say it's somewhat monotonous at times. While these last songs don't add much to the album, there were rather high standards set at the beginning and I, personally, wasn't expecting them to be beat. Another (somewhat irrational) disappointment for me was that the title track wasn't anything special.

Ashes Grammar seemed to generate mixed reactions among its listeners. Many seem to find the album messy and sort of a disappointment, while others thinks it's rather brilliant. While I can agree that it seems to drag on at some moments, mainly due to lack of extreme variety amongst the tracks, it honestly takes a few listens for it to all sink in. On first listen, only several tracks seem to stand out and yes, those are the ones of regular length. The developed ones. You only ever really remember certain parts of a dream, don't you? But what about the stuff floating amongst that? To be honest, I think the majority of it is necessary to complete the album. Ashes Grammar is not so much about individual songs as it as the entire impact. Listening to it in one go and giving it your full attention is a must.

Rating: 8.9/10 (This would definitely have made my top 10 of 2009).

Whether or not the band can recreate the magical effect this album gives live is a different question. But from the looks of this and this, it seems rather promising. I'm seeing these guys on March 9th. I'm so stroked!

Sorry for the obnoxious length of this review! I'll be updating with other (shorter) interesting things soon.

[currently listening to: keep your splendid silent sun - sleepmakeswaves]

Posted by Anna at February 2, 2010 05:23 PM