Ad Astra Per Aspera – Voodoo Economics / 2006 Sonic Unyon / 10 Tracks / http://www.adastraperaspera.com / http://www.sonicunyon.com/aapa / Reviewed 31 August 2006

“Voodoo Economics” comes at listeners with a number of different styles and sounds, and allows the band to create something that is intense as all get out without having to go into thrash or noise genres once. In fact, during “Voodoo Economics”, Ad Astra Per Aspera are really sedate, pulling influences from surf rock and Weezer more than Resist and The Locust. The band even throws in some catchy vocal melodies into the track, making “Voodoo Economics” a track that individuals can eat up with a spoon. “Post-Scarcity Sing-a-Long” blends together another batch of styles that would normally seem incongruous. This time, there is hints of the alt-country of Lucero, the folk-punk of acts like Latterman along with the indie rock of At The Drive-In and the early emo of Sunny Day Real Estate.

Again, there is intensity present even though that music does not have a sharp edge to it. The band is able to cull together a number of hits on their “Catapult Calypso”, and tracks like “Scatter Baby Spiders!” show that the band can experiment with time signatures and different instruments and still create something that works well with the rest of the tracks on the disc. The band puts forth some of the most challenging rock music I’ve heard this year; there are so many nuanced lines struggling for dominance in a track like “Nothing Else Is The Real Thing” that individuals will have to play over and over the track until they can hear the big picture that Ad Astra Per Aspera is committing to disc.

I could completely hear a track like the aforementioned “Nothing Else is the Real Thing” making it big, even though most listeners will not be able to appreciate the full beauty that is the track. The extended instrumental ending to the track would likely be cut from a radio edit, but in my opinion it is the strongest the band is on this disc. Continuing using a Middle Eastern sound for the opening of “Unnamed Acoustic Songs”, Ad Astra Per Aspera understand the necessity of tying together tracks to create a fuller album. This does not lock them into a specific sound for their disc, but allows them to showcase exactly how innovative and interesting their output can be. This is the band’s debut full length, and it does not sound to be that case; Ad Astra Per Aspera hits on all cylinders during each track of “Catapult Calypso”.

Top Tracks: Unnamed Acoustic Songs, Scatter Baby Spiders!

Rating: 6.2/10

[JMcQ]