People make it a point to search far and wide for new music. I'm not against this by any means; I've found many quality bands from the other continents besides mine. But oftentimes there is little to no effort needed when searching as there is quality music being produced right under ones nose. A perfect example of this is Minute of Arc. This four-piece outfit hails from my hometown of Cleveland and has been working together for a number of years now, fine-tuning their craft, and finally releasing their debut offering, Future Forests.
It's not surprising to hear that Minute of Arc have found their niche within the space-rock circle given the applications of their namesake - a unit of measurement that is closely associated with the field of astronomy. Over the course of the nine songs of Future Forests Minute of Arc make it a mission to both honor their influences as well as do themselves proud.
"Singularity" is a great introduction to the band and a solid leadoff track. If you can imagine Antenna-era Cave In colliding with Hum's Downward is Heavenward you would be along the right lines. As with these influences, the guitars are the main attention-grabber. The duo of Ryan Sack and Rick Spitalsky offer up a tandem of dreamy guitar noodling and soaring riffing.
Vocally, Spitalsky brings a fairly direct vocal display of harmonies to the plate. Over the course of the album there isn't much variation in his delivery, which is something that I wish were present. I could also go for some back-up vocals to bolster the songs' strength. Heck, even a couple of yells could significantly add to the album's depth.
With "Lightspeed" the band picks up the pace slightly with a more straightforward rock approach. The guitars focus in a more "a to b" direction as opposed to getting lost in each other. The rhythm section of Mike Barber and Rick Edberg are definitely more prominent here than on the previous song, though they don't attempt to distract the listener from the limelight of the guitars.
Minute of Arc float back and forth between more intricate/spacey numbers and more rock-oriented songs as the album unfolds. "In the Afternoon" has some cool guitar licks reminiscent of The Cure interspersed with it's chilled out and laid back structure. "Crossing the Bridge of Light" sees Sack and Spitalsky again focusing their skills with a variety of effects, interweaving melodies, and other indulgent activities.
In the end, Minute of Arc is at their best when they let it all hang out. "Greenhouse" features some spectacular guitars, I especially love the showmanship in between the vocal verses; the perfect mix of mid-90's texturing and jamming. "Foreign Lands" again brings a straight up rock approach, with inklings of the space influence. The song kind of reminded me a bit of the first Foo Fighters record. "Blink Out" is perhaps my favorite cut on Future Forests. Musically you get a very upbeat rock number that is Failure worship at its best. I also hear a hint of Kurt Cobain in the vocals
it's faint, but I hear it as Spitalsky stretches out his harmonies into yells.
Closing number "People of the Sea" is a mostly acoustic-centered piece. It's a bit out of the norm when compared with the rest of the album, but it still works, especially as a closing track.
Minute of Arc proves to be quite a promising group with their debut offering. The group definitely has their tastes honed in and knows exactly where they want to go with their sound. There are, however, a few rough spots that could be tweaked to better the album. In the end I'm quite glad with what I'm hearing here and look forward to what comes next.
