FZB Pages

FZB Pages

FZB Pages

Thursday, March 31, 2011

WESTKUST: DEMO

DEMO Cover Art

DEMO is the debut Ep from the Swedish quartet WESTKUST. Unlike much of the very sugary pop music that one associates with Sweden, WESTKUST is decidedly on the post-punk side of the shoegaze spectrum. All the clichés are present and accounted for: jangly fuzzed out guitars, vocals pushed back in the mix and heavy doses of reverb all around. The 5 tracks are harder edged and the heavy guitars seem to blend into a cacophony of noise, only to be resolved into distinct parts just when all seems lost. Do I like the EP, yes. Do I love it, no. There seems to something lacking overall. The lo-fi sound, for this band, works against the music being presented. An odd statement for me as I'm a huge fan of lo-fi. I find myself  wanting to hear the parts recorded clearly, so that the band's musicality comes through more. My feeling about this album comes down to not liking the production much. I like the songs. I like the way they’re played, but I don’t much like the way the EP sounds. See what you think. The EP can be streamed and downloaded for free at the link below.