2001>>>
| Since Wow & Flutter's conception in 1996 they have released 3 albums and various singles and EPs, most of them on a local Portland record label Jealous Butcher. 'Better Today Then' is their latest studio outing .Due to the rich assortment of instruments that the band uses, their music extends in countless directions. All the instruments cleverly slot together, but still manage to keep their identity separately and to stand out beautifully.'Better Today Then' starts off with a sharpening of all instruments. Once this initial excitement passes, the instruments gently glide into the clear tune of the first track, 'Slow Decay'. When Cord sings: "Everything seems easy when you don't have to think," the music viscerally follows him. The guitars devotedly tiptoe behind his vocals, but from time to time take over and are pushed into the lead. 'Candle a Tus', an instrumental track, evokes gloomy feelings. The band pulls the sound dramatically up but the song remains seriously dark. The guitar twangs that follow on 'Porcelain' untie your senses soothingly. The voice that appears in the song belongs to Jack. It appears unexpectedly far from the beginning, but just at the right moment.'Confessions' benefits from using a lot of the band's instrumental stock. When the tune finally becomes stable after an initial period of chaos, the vocals slip in. The music of this song comes in see-through layers, but the whole venture is dyed in colorful shades. 'Better Today Then' closes with 'In The Ether's Star Translumined Ice'. It is an instrumental track and, like 'Candle a Tus', elegantly stirs and mixes all its instrumentation together.'Better Today Then' features only 6 of Wow & Flutter's tunes, but, as they are all long, they each give you plenty of space to fall for their unique character. Simply said, the music makes you think:"Wow!" -Olga, Pennyblack |