French language website ‘Dans le mur… du son‘ compare Verse Metrics’ Radians EP to Mogwai, Arab Strap, Aereogramme and Low in it’s review of the 5 tracks. Again, our French isn’t the best and Google translate leaves a lot to be desired in the accuracy stakes for this piece so if anyone out there can get us a better idea of the context, please comment below.
‘Semaphore’ seems to be a favourite.
CLICK HERE for the full review
Many thanks to Anthony Withers of Anglia Translations Ltd:- Aaah, these Scots. Mostly all they do is annoy us …… Rather than doing the decent thing of ticking the right boxes (if possible whatever is in fashion at the moment) (shoegaze, post-punk, dream-pop, C-86… and heaven knows what else), they come up with a bit of a mixture which no-one is expecting (and often, sadly, that no-one actually wants at the end of the day … ). But let’s welcome the Verse Metrics maths (post?) group who in a strange sort of way sound like Mogwai with some Arab Strap thrown in. And they make quite a lot of noise …. A sort of version 2 of Aereogramme ….
They give off a great buzz, with the guitars going off wildly in all sorts of daring combinations ((‘Algorythms’). But then there are moments of real calm (some passages of ‘Semaphore’ are very Low) to give a real emphasis to a gentle, detached song, too rarefied at the end. Actually, for most of the time, the music oscillates between the two moods, just as in the same way there is a contrast between the sometimes very violent instrumental music and an extremely lyrical pop. Or again, between a way-out mathy rhythm and an irresistibly sweet melody. Or again between rapid yet sublime guitar riffs and moments of intense introspection. A song like “Aches” alone contains all these moods and much more besides …..
Radians however does not totally convince. Perhaps because it is overlong (25 minutes) and as such it won’t work as an EP. It’s rich and varied and does leave you wanting more. In short, we look forward to the album.