I have to admit that on the first go Maribel’s Aesthetics didn’t really catch me. There looms a certain feeling that you’ve heard it done before, and done better, and thoughts go wandering to bands like My Bloody Valentine and Norway’s own Serena Maneesh. Though some first impressions… last, this one fortunately doesn’t. On the second, the third, the fourth listen, one starts to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of Maribel’s open, but close, monotonous, yet melodic, landscapes of sound.
The first track is a sort of interlude that, though it is both moody and at times hypnotic, could well have been dropped or at least shortened extensively. The slow, dwelling dynamic between the female vocals and the soundscape could work well as an intro, but is instead intended to function as a track of its own which, sadly, it doesn’t. The album doesn’t really get started until the second, or even the third track. Both ‘Taste the Trash’ and particularly ‘Ecstatic’ are exciting numbers, the former a shoegazing gem and the latter exploring a juxtaposition of a Stooges-like droning with a more poppy, melody-based female vocal line. Both cases of excellent melodic work without compromising the wall-of-sound-y genre Maribel is operating within.
This first part is followed by something called ‘Soothe’, which in the intro sounds like Massive Attack (Mezzanine-ish) played by a cleaner The Jesus & Mary Chain, and at this point the suggestiveness attempted in track 1 is successful. Hypnotic dual vocals and glockenspiel, with just enough percussion and a repetitive guitar-riff; it works very well at times. This number is followed by ‘Flesh & Blood’, a break-beat-influenced, almost-pop track and ‘Deflowers’ reminiscent of a certain Oasis B-side from around ’95 (but not necessarily in a bad way).
Closing track, ‘Siamese Eyes’, is in my opinion the strongest and the closest Maribel comes to a hit song. But even here there is a sense of melody unfulfilled, a hook lacking, a refrain missing. Not that I’m asking for a “don’t bore us, get to the chorus”-attitude, but at least one thing sticking out would have been nice.
Although there are more hits than misses on this album, I am left with a feeling that this would have been an excellent EP, stretched out to what has ended up a more than OK album. There is a general lack of urgency in their melodies and they lack that one song that could propel them to any real height of popularity. It’s a shame — because there is potential unreleased in Maribel, but overall Aesthetics is not a bad showcase for a band we definitely will hear more from.
Related posts:
