Innocent Android - Zephyr

Innocent Android

​Zephyr
self-released;2016

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Robash
​

What originally started as a solo acoustic project for singer-guitarist Raul Gonzalez over time became the indie scream-o quartet Innocent Android. Gonzalez formed Innocent Android along with guitarist Adan Hernandez, bassist Ramiro Hernandez and drummer Saul Hernandez.

On their debut four-song EP entitled Zephyr Innocent Android combine a myriad of influences from indie and straight rock and roll to emo and scream-o and even have some pretty metal influenced riffs which accompany many of the songs. The songs were written and recorded in a span of two weeks, a rather short period of time considering, but it gives them a shoot from the hip quality which is sometimes what younger bands need.

Zephyr opens with the hard core emo stylings of “Mirrors.” Here large swells of guitars give way to denouements of quiet introspection as singer Raul Gonzalez laments, “A face but it feels so familiar / It's something like a taste that lingers / I feel like a need a clue / Something to get to you.” This darkness builds into the chorus which then finds Gonzalez and the band letting loose with Gonzalez’s vocals turning to a shrill scream and the band beating and thrashing through it all.

Next on “Fate” Innocent Android blend indie and metal hooks together giving off a feeling reminiscent of their Texas brethren At the Drive In and their subsequent spinoffs such asThe Mars Volta and Sparta, and another well-established post hardcore Texas band Trail of Dead. On “Spiders” Innocent Android give their take on the straightforward simple chord chugs of nineties grunge. The final track “Amnesia” is the most ambitious song on the album, opening with some fancy percussion and building slowly into a spacey, rock ballad full of starts and stops and leaves space for the music to resonate.

​In many ways Zephyr is a classic first recording by a young band. They’ve taken their influences and mixed them all together and have played what they know. There is no fault in this, however a second record would need to see at least a little more originality from the band, something that comes with writing and rewriting songs over a period of months.  Influences are great starters, but after a time if not moved away from, you may as well just be a cover band.

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