Search - Sound Team :: Movie Monster

An exceedingly robust, and classic, Movie Monster

Bastion Wilcox | London, UK | 06/11/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Amidst the early swell of blogger buzz generated by Sound Team's fantastic "Work" EP (released independently in November 2005 on their Big Orange Records imprint) little did anyone know that the band would grow so quickly in the wake of that taseter set.



But the buzz continued.



Then swelled.



If "Work" was a taster for what might have been, Sound Team's debut release inches the Austin six-piece toward something far less speculative, largely due to the fact that Movie Monster is, quite simply, a rarefied gem.



It nothing less than the slightest understatement to say that they achidve something special here, something that not just any act can achieve on such a highly anticipated debut.



Whereas the Work EP often finds Sound Team venturing into masterful, Moog-driven major key cacophonies, Sound Team, this time around, explore darker, more experimental territrory whilst keeping their effortless tunefulness in tact.



Let it be know, there's diffuse territory to be traversed on Movie Monster. "Get Out," a terse, driving teaser anthem is followed by two dense pop gems, the pleading "Born to Please" and the Randy Newman meets Delfonte Gerard Boncleste ditty, "No More Birthdays."



The pulsating title track is the opening salvos to the record's middle act, which is, at times, darker and more experimental, part Neu!, part Eno, part Harry Nilsson, if that even makes sense.



It'd be otherwise negligent to overlook their influences, yet it'd be unwise to cite them as anything other than reference points: Sound Team sounds like one of those great, rare bands vigilently unique unto itself.



The record's third act meanders amongst exquisitely hazy sonics ("Afterglow Year" and "You've Never Lived a Day"), claustrophobic dance pop ("Shattered Glass"), and anthemic ennui (the epic/live staple "Handful of Billions").



One of 2006's ten best. Hands down.

"

Fantastic

F. Madden | boston, ma | 06/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got my hands on an advanced copy of the album a month ago and am still listening to it constantly. Easily my favorite album of the year, and a real leap forward from the promise the band showed on the Work EP. The album has a distinctive sound and very cohesive feel, with my fave tracks being Born to Please, Handful of Billions, and Back in Town."

Even Better Than The Work EP

iamdmann | New York, NY | 06/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great record. Fresh sound. There are enough layers to things that new elements come through after repeated listens. Maybe the best thing about this record is how well it translates to a live show. See this band if you can, and buy this record."