Contrail - Correspondence School

  by Matthew Willson

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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Review

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