a.P.A.t.T. – (L.P.) / 2004 Lowsley Sound / 8 Tracks / http://www.apatt.com / Reviewed 08 August 2006

I get it. The band is trying to be weird and yet retro-hip with this album. The first track is “The Man Returns from the Hereafter…”, and the only thing that really sticks out about this track are the multiple vocals that assault the listeners at points.

The arrangements attempt to do much of the same thing, but there is a problem with the production of the tracks on this disc. This adds a murky fog to the bass and guitars that do not add to the atmosphere of the track. While individuals can hear exactly what is being played, the enjoyment that one can draw from the instrumentation decreases. When the band is trying to something simple with their composition, as is the case during the opening to a new movement in “Hearafter”, the constraints of the instrumentation decrease. However, when the band is attempting to do a number of things during a track, the constraints are shown in full force.

This is noticed particularly well during the four-minute mark of “Hearafter”, where all of the different instruments clashing together make a noisy mess that is hard to dissect. Demarcating the tracks is a duty that is even too hard for the composers of the track to do. While “Hearafter” may be one track in theory, it is about five or six different tracks in actuality. I wish the band would have marked when the different “movements” were during the track, so that I could go immediately to the part of the track that I desired. The use of different instruments on a wooden floor (Creating a stomp-like sound) for the opening of “The Blood” is interesting, and the overlay of a bass and electronic track over that is still serviceable. However, the further layering of tracks over the original set of instruments make this track so full as to not be serviceable. The circus like atmosphere of “The Blood” is interesting, but throwing in a bit of Aphex Twin-like industrial into the track is not necessarily the best decision for the band at this juncture. a.P.A.t.T try to stick too many things into too short of a time frame on (L.P.), and while the band knows how to make an interesting song, they are trying to make two or three interesting songs in the space of one. If the band could limit the amount of layers that they place on a track, the results would be much more solid.

Top Tracks: The Blood, Magpie Face

Rating: 4.5/10

[JMcQ]