I remember reading in the mid-90s (though I can’t remember the source now) that, around every two years or so, the American underground throws up an exciting band or artist whose sound sets the scene until the next big thing. In the context in which I read it, it traced a heritage that went back through The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, REM, Sonic Youth, Nirvana and Green Day, but can also be fairly easily traced forward through artists such as The Strokes, Arcade Fire and Sufjan Stevens, all of who released acclaimed work which had a long trickle down, through those it inspired, to those who were mere copyists. We’re now about 18 months into the reign of Animal Collective and their ‘Merriwhether Post Pavilion’ album and the populist end of the underground is awash with nu-psychedelia.
Glass Vaults undoubtedly falls into this category. To their credit, though, they make music which is inspired rather than derived – an important distinction. ‘They Will Grow’ starts the Glass EP with 4 minutes of ambient synth wash which blurs into ‘Set Sail’. It takes over half this track’s 7 odd minutes for much more than heavily reverbed voice to join the drone, but then the floor tom rhythm kicks in, everything gets more intense and you know you’re now flying. It’s heady stuff and the duo do it with aplomb. The analogue synth come-down is beautifully buzzy, a fitting end to a fair epic. ‘New Space’ is probably where the Animal Collective comparisons are most pertinent – jaunty pop under layers of stuttering synth bubbles, electronic and acoustic rhythms and washes of reverb keeping the beautiful melody in the stratosphere while being lyrically impenetrable. ‘Worrier’ adds a tinge of Thom Yorke to the vocal timbre while ‘Forget Me Not’ is a glorious closer with spangly synth arpeggios and more of those rim shots on the floor toms.
Glass Vaults use reverb to make big sounding music but, thankfully, don’t just bury everything and use the hugeness as a facade to vacuousness. There is meat in their melodies, in their song structures and in their sonic exploration. That they make it all sound dreamy is an added bonus.
Adrian Elmer
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