Customer Reviews

Rings

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Absinthe Blind are in their element skillfully playing lush, dreamy melodies, reminiscent of early Smashing Pumpkins (see Siamese Dream). One unique force of the band is Erin Fein, a good vocalist who intermittently lends her voice to the more laid-back tracks on the record, enhancing it and giving Absinthe Blind an underrated "weapon." For more of Fein's music, check out the album Kill Them with Kindness by the Headlights.

This is a wandering album where the music floats around and lyrics are a little secondary to musical style and a spaced-out aura that permeates. Consequently, when some good electric guitar does wail through, along with that good drum sound, it's a welcome breakthrough. Absinthe Blind write unique pop tunes such as "Inside My Mirror," "Ease the Curtain Down," "The Break" and "The Dreamer's Song," all sweet-sounding pop songs of self-reflection and hope.

This band's wide musical palate may not please everybody, but there's bound to be a song or two on "Rings" that would be endearing to most. The songs kind of linger and blend together; there's a mellow aura to the album, but its primary sound is hard to grasp -- even after several listens. One of my favorites is "She Saves/Now I'm Where I Need To Be." The song begins darkly enough with a throbbing bass, slightly out-of-tune guitar, crashing drums, lush voices and somewhat foreboding lyrics. Then, slowly, the song transforms into a dreamy, lush-sounding instrumental: Pumpkins-like guitars strumming ever so gently, a steady drum beat that lulls and intermittent cymbals that crash pleasantly, with background voices that fade in and out. Overall, pretty cool stuff.

I can't believe I'm the first person to review this... This album is absolutely fantastic. There is not a single bad track. From the wandering ambience/movie soundrtack, summer sound of "The Break" to the bleak winter wasteland of "Bands 2", and every single fantasically produced (props to Matt Talbot and Keith Cleversey here), harmony-laden, great guitar solo-ed tracks ("Inside My Mirror", the electronica-to-rock of "Walls Covered in Hope", "Do You Know What You Mean To Me", and the Trail-Of-Dead-meets-Sigur-Ros stickiness of "She Saves")-this album is without flaw. Adam Fein and Erin Fein's voices go together like peanut butter and jelly, and Tristan Wraight is simply amazing at times on lead guitar. Seth Fein is a solid drummer, and just listen to Mike Zolfo's bass on "She Saves". Well, the only problem is the vocals on "The Dreamer's Song" ( a great Beatles-esque song), but that's just nitpicking. Buy this album wherever you can, and you'll see what I mean. If you like Interpol, Wilco, Radiohead, Ted Leo, Hum, Murmur, or even early U2, R.E.M, and the Beatles, then you simply have to buy this. You'll be supporting a little-known band who're better than 99% of the music out there (that I've heard), and getting great stuff to boot. Get on it.

I happened up Absinthe Blind by accident through my interaction with Grand Theft Autumn records. As I began to become familiar with Rings, I did not know that I would stumble upon a musical jewel. What I found was astounding and brilliant. Simply put, I cannot say enough about this album. It is a masterpiece and all who love music should own a copy. Hailing from Champaign-Urbana, IL, Absinthe Blind crafts a disc that is both captivating and mature. Mark Talbott (ex-HUM) and Keith Cleversley (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, Spiritualized) produced Rings and helped the band to make its sound shine through. Rings begins with a beautiful drone inviting the listening to enter musical landscapes that soar: vast and altogether powerful. This is due in part to Adam and Erin Fein's intertwined vocals. I am usually hesitant to accept a band that has more than one singer, but this brother and sister team pull it off in spades. Both Erin and Adam hold their own as front people, but they also have the power to enhance the others voice when doing BGVs. Beyond its musical depth, the lyrics are also mature and introspective. On the first track, "The Break", Adam and Erin proclaim, "the melody's inside me/It's been there all this time." And they do let it out. This entrance into the album leads the listener to Bands 1 (4th track) that captivates with one line: "She said playing in bands won't make you well." Erin croons this line over and over upon drones and layered guitars, horns, and a vast musical landscape. "Face Inside My Mirror" seems to state the albums overall introspective theme with its rock tempo and layered tones: "Your face inside my mirror/and in that I saw / exactly what got/clearer." My favorite song on the disc has to be "She Saves/Now I'm Where I Need To Be." The song opens with big, grungy guitars and moves into a melodic journey that lasts 9:51. What is fantastic about this song is that, at the end of the song, you just want more. There is no sense of drudgery or "is this song over yet." I would also like to take my hat off to Peter Linder who contributed Cello on this song. All this being said, I certainly do not want to take away from the rest of the band. Tristan Wraight, Brett Sanderson, and Seth Fein make up the rest of this impressive musical machine. Drum, guitar, bass, and programming all are impressive and, I must say, makes me want the next album now!

I've been following Absinthe Blind ever since I came to school here in the fall of '99, starting at the Dovetail Joint show at the Canopy Club. It turned out the only song by Dovetail Joint that I liked was their hit song, and enjoyed the opener Absinthe Blind much more. At this point Absinthe Blind was experiencing a kind of sonic revolution, experimenting for the first time with female vocals. I say revolution, because starting with their single for Music For Security, it was a complete break from their previous Pink Floyd-inspired guitar experimentation. They exploded into a more pop-oriented sound, resembling early U2 or REM. In Rings, they continue their tradition of catchy (but not insipid nor immature) pop songs, tracks purely dedicated to the exploration of sonic textures, and a bit of horn improvisation. The tracks merge together, but not in a way that suggests a uniqueness of style.

The Break works rather well as an opener, paving the way for their many styles: ethereal keyboardwork, some rocking grooves, and duetwork between Adam and Erin, and a little bit of guitar improvisation. The next song "Shields" is probably the strongest pop/rock track on the album. After the intermezzo "To Forgive your enemies" follows "Band 1", and ethereal experimental track harking back to their early work. This song is usually used to open their live concerts, so it's interesting to hear it in the middle. "Inside Your Mirror" starts with a faster beat than most of their works, but then it flows into an enjoyable pop groove. This is the second song (after Shields) that would work well for radio play. "Walls Covered in Hope" is a mellow ballad that builds into a climactic rocker, in an early-90's style of soft-to-loud rock ballads (like stuff from Throwing Copper, or Nothingman by Pearl Jam). This is followed by the mostly-instrumental "Do you know what you mean to me".

Now for what I think is actually the weakest track on the album, "The Dreamers Song", but has received considerable radio-play in Champaign-Urbana. Why is it weak? Because it sounds more like a Beatles cover than an original work (there's actually a reference to this in the lyrics: "It's our turn to write the Beatles song"). In my honost opinion, I think it's more of a crowd/fan pleaser than what should be a radio representation of their work, not to mention it's a bit repetitive and obtuse for my tastes.

The momentum of the album is recovered in "Ease the Curtains down", another mellow pop track, and some amazing vocal play between Adam and Erin on "Brave", though it features mostly Erin's soaring voice. The closure of the album can be felt in the second to last track, "She Saves", which is hauntingly beautiful and stands on its own as a good rocker too. The world needs more good long 10-minute rockers reminiscent of the golden days of 70's experimental rock (read: Pink Floydd, Led Zeppelin, and others). The only other band that I can remember offhand that does this on a regular basis is Tool.

The album reaches its conclusion Band 2, which coincidentally is sometimes used along with Band 1 to bookend their live concerts. Its nostalgic dreaminess is a time-tested and excellent way to end an excellent album.

Holy Cow.
Right from the getgo, Absinthe Blind grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go in this astonishing medly of music -- Rings. If there is one word to describe this album, I would say it would have to be 'transforming'. While on one level the songs themselves constantly shift and mutate into something new and exciting every minute, the listener will find himself changed as well by the time this fledgling band is done with them. Tristan Wraight's soaring guitar lines lead this band, backed by the ghostly combination of Adam and Erin Fein on vocals.
'She Saves' is one of the most fantastic songs I have ever heard. Its pounding opening few minutes take you on a ride that is better than sex, and lets you down so slowly that by the time its over, you feel so drained that you just want to collapse, only you can't, because Absinthe Blind isn't through with you yet. Astonished that any band could blow your mind so powerfully, you're really not prepared for them to do it again right away. 'Bands 2' is basically indescribable, if you've never heard the album, as the only thing good enough to compare it to is 'She Saves'.
From the strange, foreign sounding opening lines of 'The Break' to the hollow, soul-chilling emptyness of 'Bands 2', this record gave me goosebumps all the way through. While some songs are better then others, the weakest one on the album is hands down better then anything else I have heard in a long time, or anything at all on the radio. Radiohead -- you had better hope that "Hail to the Thief" is just absolutely amazing, otherwise I would say your time in the limelight is over. My parting thoughts: If you have not bought this album, do so NOW, it's worth every penny.

Third album from this indie rock group from Champaign-Urbana, IL. While they owe debts to the great British shoegazer bands of the late 80s (Ride, Chapterhouse, Slowdive), they manage to not sound like any of them. That makes for a fresh-sounding record heavy on melody, featuring three siblings with male/female vocals.
Sample "The Break", "Shields", "Bands 1" and "Do You Know What You Mean To Me" for the highlights of this album

This album ROCKS! Absinthe Blind is WAY more talented than most new bands on alternative radio. The songwriting is solid, fresh, innovative. Their style has elements incorporated that have been compared to Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Hum, and early Pumpkins for obvious reasons once you listen, but AB gives you songs with great pop melodies that are very pretty and stick in your head too- you can sing along to this stuff. Their sound is varied, not pigeonholed. Many songs are very climatic- haunting and lush to just flat out RRRROCK. Their variety in song structure is refreshing in this climate of formulaic grumpy rock. It is clear that much effort was put into RINGS, it's very polished. I've seen this band play many times and their music keeps maturing. Don't miss out. And Adam--- come back, we all miss you.