30 Mar 09
Gregor Samsa
(Wiki) | (Last.FM) | (Myspace)
Over Air
[2009] | [The Kora Records]
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5.4/10
As I sat at a stop light on my drive home from work, Boston’s sky was grey and overcast with drops of rain falling over a quiet and humbled city. I look to my left, and waiting for a walk signal stood a businessman smoking a cigarette. It was 5:00, the end of the day for him as well I assumed, and the piano in “Adoloscent” was closing the song out. It was there and then that the song made sense; it was a reflection on the relentless monotonous cycle of work and pleasure. The piano captured the businessman’s vacant soul whose day ending cigarette was one of few pleasures he has been rewarded. My shitty FM radio transmitter was throwing in static that played into the moment perfectly rather than away from it. And that is where Over Air’s strength lies. If the time and situation is right, it can be a pleasing opportune listen.
The second song “Jeroen VanAken” repents “Oooh damned if I stay, damned if I go” that builds its way into a mesmerizing chorus as frontman Champ Bennet and Nikki King dual, “Seems the devil has a grip on me”. Over Air draws from albums such as OK Computer as many of the lyrics are short fragmented statements that collectively gather to cast a darkened cold mood and seemingly full of contempt for society. Over Air can express this beautifully in waves of music through narrow dark corridors that are void of anger or hate but rather a sighed acceptance in the form of a violin’s bow or a piano’s lonely singular strokes. Yet this act becomes forgettable as it keeps the band fixated to a single facet. The tempo remains slow, instruments take turns, and everything is so driven and structured toward a dark resonance that it lacks creativity or interest. The songs are rather hit-or-miss with some displaying excellent verve while others are an ambient bore.
It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of skill to piece single instruments together in a way that is coordinated and musically rhythmic. In this way, the music found on Over Air feels better suited for a movie soundtrack. The music in “Adoloscent” has a low-profiled simple piano and little bits of instrumentation behind it that toil their way up, but naturally fall back down defeated and withdrawn. While this doesn’t necessarily detract from the album, it does hold it back; Gregor Samsa isn’t a bad band nor is Over Air a bad album, but it desperately needs more dynamic variety to take it over the edge to where it has to be. Their best work, “Young and Old”, on the album similarly feels as though it is for a movie; the violin could convey the pain of a distraught protagonist, while the drums and other instrumentation hurry him along in a frantic manner. It is one of the most appealing songs from the album with great musical progression as the instruments combine harmoniously rather than detached.
Overall, Over Air moves slowly and elegantly throughout the album taking a rather pessimistic view of life, and it is ultimately how you look at it that makes its worth. Ambient/post-rock will always call for more attention than rock or pop. And in which case: is it worth dismissing their melody structure due to lack of vivacity or life? Perhaps not; but nor is the music appealing or engaging comparable to the likes of Sigur Ros or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. If Gregor Samsa wishes to continue work in slowcore/sadcore music, they’re going to have to learn how to mimic their top three songs of the 9 track album: “Jeroen VanAken”, “Adoloscent”, and “Young And Old”. As it stands now however, Over Air remains an unmemorable album whose strength only thrives in life’s darker moments.
-Mark
