Aereogramme have released two albums on Matador, been media darlings over in the U.K, and has even gotten Aaron Turner (Isis, Old Man Gloom) to do the artwork for their new record, Seclusion, yet, this is my first run-in with them. I figured with Aaron Turner doing the artwork, I'd find crushing riffs, vocals that could crumble buildings, and drums that pound away with no ending in sight. Well, I can't say I am the least bit right.
Aereogramme start Seclusion off with "Inkwell." Poppy guitars, synthesizers backing them, and vocals that are filtered on top of it all, and you have yourself a very radio friendly tune here. I think to myself, "Well, I most certainly wasn't expecting that." Come to find out, the record made me say that a whole lot.
"Dreams and Bridges" is more in tune with A Perfect Circle, which makes you wonder, "Who the hell is this band?" I don't think they are quite sure of the answer themselves. The end of the song has a very sludgy metal sound, in the vein of Pelican. It's at this point, only two songs in mind you, that I finally realized what C&C Music Factory were singing about with "Things That Make You Go Hmmm."
"I Don't Need Your Love" shows the band can also make a ballad. With guitars with the delay turned to the max, strings played in the background in a rather dramatic manner, and soft vocals over all of it, this song is nothing better than some of the ballads terrible radio rock bands are churning out these days.
The last two songs just further my opinion of this disc and certainly don't help it out much at all. "Lightning Strikes the Postman" is one of the more contrived Hum rip-offs I've heard in some time now. That is, until the guitar solo. Yes, the guitar solo. Right about when it hit, I wanted to throw this CD against the wall, but I opted against it since there was only one song left. "Alternate Score" ends this confused mass of a record with an "epic" instrumental closer that I am sure they felt is up to par with fellow Scotlanders (hahaha) Mogwai. Well...no.
All in all, Aereogramme won't take the honor from Mogwai as THE band from Scotland. Hell, they might not even be the best band in their neighborhood. I'd suggest you steer clear of this record and not be deceived by the fact that Aaron Turner lent his artistic ability. After all, a job is a job.
