Electro Group
Ummo
Omnibus
For a band calling itself “Electro Group,” there’s a surprising lack of electronic dominance on this album. Instead, the band’s sound evokes cascades-of-noise shoegaze in spirit while avoiding most of the guitar wash histrionics. On Ummo, guitars largely defer to the distorted bass’s fuzzy crowned rule. Whereas groups like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive derived their textural qualities from guitar effects pedals, Electro Group amps up the low-end and lets it loose like a malignant tidal wave. The title track uses the bass to great effect, copping Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s gutter rock and applying it to the streets of Metopolis instead of Gotham City. Roots spring up throughout the album, but nowhere more so than on “Noon Blue Apples,” with a chorus falsetto that recalls Lush. Electro Group may be a year too late to ride the shoegaze renaissance wave, but Ummo creates its own cozy little tidal pool to reflect on and in which to lose your thoughts. Good stuff.
Omnibus: http://www.omnibusrecords.com
