Contrail - Correspondence School

  by Matthew Willson

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

---

This first Contrail album gives Erin Czech - singer, guitarist and songwriter for the Santa Clara band - the opportunity to unleash on us a promising set of songs which take their cues from the old school of indie rock. While the distinctly lo-fi production sometimes masks the band's potential, you get a sense that there are some beautiful songs lying behind the layers of guitar noise and fuzzy recordings. "Prime Ideals" gets the album off to a good start, with a short burst of tuneful feedback-laden indie-rock reminiscent of the Pixies. This is about as catchy as the songs get however - Sonic Youth seem to be a strong influence and like them Czech seems to shy away from straightforward songs sometimes, leaving the album to wash over you in a blur of calming yet energetic sound. Having said that there are some strong songs on here - the short catchy rock of the title track sticks in the mind, and tracks like "Skin Test" and "The Silver State" (the longest track on the album at almost 6 minutes) unleash a pleasing rhythmic fuzz of bar chords and energetic vocals. Others like "Paperback" and "Monolith" have a more dreamy sound, building up from quieter more atmospheric Sonic Youth style guitar work. While "Epsilon Approaches Zero" has a simpler summery sound, some of the album rambles somewhat - the chord sequences don't offer simple hooks, rather a fuzzy wall of sound whose structure becomes blurred on occasion by the indistinct recording. It does grow on you however, and the album seems to make sense as a whole. Although many of the songs could benefit from better production, "Correspondence School" contains both some beautiful quieter moments and some promising indie-rock songwriting. The Contrail seem to have a lot of potential and this album has got them off to a good start.

Track Listing:-

1 Favourite Albums-The Sonics
2 Prime Ideals
3 Skin Test
4 Paperback
5 Great Divide
6 Correspondence School
7 Glass of Water
8 The Silver State
9 No title
10 Epsilon Approaches Zero
11 Golden Centers
12 Queen of Diligence
13 Monolith
14 Walla Walla, WA
15 Scissor Shear

Post A Comment

---

Comment

Name

your name

Location

ie London, UK

Submit

Check box to submit

Adam Coxon
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson

Dixie Ernill
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart

Malcolm Carter
Marie Hazelwood
Mark Rowland
Nick Dent-Robinson
Nicky Crewe
Nige Nudds
Philamonjaro
Richard Lewis
Shirley Procter
Spencer Robertshaw
Steev Burgess
Steve Kinrade

Steve Miles
Tommy Gunnarsson
Zena Grieg