Staff Reviews
Mazes - Wooden Aquarium
In their search for idiosyncrasy, Mazes have landed on a brand of psychedelia that is at its boom»
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Mazes have never been ones for hanging around. When they have songs, they get them out there. Completed in just two weeks between the sub-zero conditions of commuter town Cornwall, New York and the heart of Brooklyn, 'Wooden Aquarium' marks the apex at which Mazes' music to date meets. Whilst debut album 'A Thousand Heys' was recorded on a boat and recent album 'Ores and Minerals' was recorded across numerous takes in the back room of Dalston's Shacklewell Arms and Jack's bedroom, 'Wooden Aquarium' has brought Cooper, drummer Neil Robinson and bassist Conan Roberts together in a studio again. Recorded completely live and laid down entirely onto beautifully thick two-inch tape, the trio also had company in enlisting the skills of Parquet Courts' producer Jonathan Schenke. That sense of nostalgia is never clearer than on 'Universal Me', capturing Wooden Aquarium's theme of finding yourself caught between two places. Akin to Field Music's articulate songwriting prowess and the punky guitar rhythms of The Feelies or Television, 'Letters Between U&V' is about unfinished moments, half notes or things left unsaid, whilst personal ailments ('Astigmatism') and see- sawing between extreme confidence and self doubt ('Salford') are explored through hypnotic lo-fi pop melodies of motorik rhythms bolstered by spiky hooks and Cooper's distinctively carefree vocals.
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