Alunah – Fall to Earth EP
This EP has been out for a while now (2 years to be exact) so it seems we’re coming to the party a little late. But screw it, it’s new to us and probably is to most of you!
Any of you who have downloaded our compilation, Black is Thee New Black, will already be familiar with Alunah’s track, Song of the Sun, which is set for release on the band’s upcoming album. It’s interesting to compare the more recent recording to the older material on this EP, there’s a noticeable improvement. That’s not to say that Fall to Earth is bad, far from it, but if a young band isn’t going to improve from one recording to the next then they should probably ask themselves a few questions.
Fall to Earth (which the band kindly sent me on 10” vinyl. Hint, hint!) is a great introduction to a band that I expect to be hearing a lot more of in the future. This EP has more than a hint of Acid King to it, that’s no bad thing in my book, the laid back female vocals and fuzz bombardment make avoiding that comparison pretty much impossible. So if you’re not a fan of Acid King it would probably be an idea to stop reading this review.
Opening track, Spend My Time, is a bit more upbeat than the sort of sludge you can expect from Acid King (although not by much) and has all the hallmarks of being a belter live. Alunah quickly (if that’s the right word to be using here) get down to some sludge on track two, Son Et Luminaire, which is very much the sort of fuzz heavy riff-a-thon that Acid King do so well. However, it’s third track Show Me How which is, for my money, the best on this EP. This track not only has the most bombastic riff of all the songs on offer but also feels like the most complete.
My only gripe with this EP, and it’s a minor gripe, is the production. However, knocking an unsigned band for their production levels is a bit like having a go at a baby for shitting its nappy, so I’m not going to dwell on this. The vocals are, to my admittedly battered ears, a tad too high and a tad too dry, the same goes for the drums. The tracks feel like they could probably be a lot heavier if the mix was a bit more ‘live’. Basically, if they mixed it like an Acid King record!! The band gets it spot on at the end of Spend My Time and again at the end of Show Me How. More reverb! More delay! More guitars (multi tracking is your friend)! MORE FUZZ!
Like I said this is a minor gripe and the tune Alunah have on our compilation shows that they have learnt a lot in the two years since this EP first saw the light of day. Listening to this record I get the impression that live Alunah are heavier than a sack of spanners. If you get a chance to see Alunah I would strongly recommended checking them out.
Fall to Earth is a strong start, keep an eye on this lot.
by enos
