Most indie labels stick to a certain uniform genre for the most part (
Sub Pop
,
SST
ROIR
Epitaph
, etc.), and
Relapse
is no different, as the majority of their artists are of the
noise
-
metal
variety. But a glaring exception is
Zombi
-- a Pittsburgh multi-instrumentalist duo comprised of members
Steve Moore
and
A.E. Paterra
. Think
Rush
circa their peak
Moving Pictures
Signals
era -- with
Alex Lifeson
's guitar completely erased from the proceedings -- and you're not far off from what
's sophomore effort, 2006's
Surface to Air
, sounds like. The label describes
as "Less an album than a moving, breathing mass of symphonic sound," and while it may sound a bit vague, they're right on with their assessment -- it's one of those releases that is meant to be listened to from beginning to end. And as a result, will take you one a heck of a synth-led journey, especially such standouts as the album-opening
"Challenger,"
the part-
Devo
/part-
ambient
"Digitalis,"
and the slowly building title track. If you were to add
Geddy Lee
's unmistakable vocals,
would certainly make one heck of a
release. Definitely a "headphone album" in the classic sense. ~ Greg Prato