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Astropop 3:
Eclipsing Binary Star
Hailing from my very own hometown of Virginia Beach, VA, Astropop 3 appears to be one of the few bands worthy of attention in the feeble music scene that inhabits Hampton Roads. After catching the their live performance a few months ago, it became clear that the bands name is intended as a description of the type of music they play: guitar pop, coated in a dreamy, spacey haze that is sometimes arousing and at other times soothing and sweet. Eclipsing Binary Star proves to be more of this style, as the entire album is enveloped in the same dreamy haze, aided by foggy production. The music on the album melds the influence of pop music from several eras. The cute guy-girl vocals on Light Years Away are straight twee-pop; Lost in a Dream and Same Old Story are 60s Beatles-influenced pop; the organ in No Time For Me reminds me of Elvis Costello; and the heavy, distorted guitars that drown the vocals on Agatha are straight out of My Bloody Valentines shoegaze rulebook. The album begins and ends with songs that showcase simple acoustic guitar accompanied only by lead singer Dan Villanuevas voice; both of these tracks are riddled with echoey production effects that seal the entire album into a dream-pop cloud. I can see how critics might give Astropop 3 the old 3-star rating: they write good songs, but songs that are derivative of existing styles. In other words, its all been done before. And this is indeed evident in certain places of the album. (As just one example, the bass line on Starscream borrows heavily from The Cures Just Like Heaven.) Still, Astropop 3 seem capable of proving themselves successful at carving out their own niche in pop music. The bands cloudy recording style appears to be a distinguishing factor, and the ethereal and calming quality that this creates puts Eclipsing Binary Star near the top of my list of rainy day albums.
This album can be purchased at Planting Seeds Records LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Astropop 3 page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
