destination Space Station - Nomadic

Destination Space Station

Nomadic
self-released; 2014

3.7 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

 

Destination Space Station is a three-piece band consisting of Alex Beaven, Mason Brown and Jim Hughes. The band’s recent release entitled album Nomadic showcases talented musicians who bring create their own unique blend of rock/pop and even a bit of surf.

No matter what style the band decides to flirt with it’s always done with a copious amount of reverb which is basically a fourth member of the band. They coat the vocals and guitars in enough reverb to make it sound more like effect rather than the more traditional use of creating space. 

Talk to any engineer and they would say it’s easy to overuse reverb but I felt that wasn’t the case here. The use of reverb not only benefits the music but also seems very conducive to their name. Quite often I felt the music was upwardly ascending into space at a rapid speed. Take for instance an song like “Forces.” The sound of the guitar and vocals are serene and tranquil but as the song progresses the additional layers of music seem to catapult it like a rocket out of the stratosphere. This song is a clear highlight and not to be missed. 

A similar feeling is apparent on the opener “Hide In Deep Machines” although this is more of a roller coaster ride that takes you up and down. Beautiful melancholy seeps into your very essence when you listen to “Archetype” and also includes a very Pink Floyd like guitar solo. 

The band doesn't dwell too long on surf music but there are definitely elements of it on “Profligates.” It wasn't the most emotionally heavy song on the album but you can make a case for it being the most fun. Between the time changes and gorgeous vocal work the highlight of the album is arguably “Inventor.” The band sounds like a bit of Local Natives and Radiohead here.

As much as I enjoyed the album there were some points that I felt the vocals were a bit too buried in the mix. Some songs felt a bit flat but overall the majority of them were good and some of them on the verge of great. This was very respectable work by the band and I am looking forward to where they go from here. 

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