Album: Crush
Year: 2001
Genre: Straight up Shoegaze
Country: U.S. (Somewhere in the Midwest)
I'll cut the trend of starting my review with worthless babble that only has remotely to do with the album in question. Astrobite is one of those bands that are treasured by hardcore Shoegaze fans, and generally unknown by everyone else. It is a so-called 'Shoegaze Supergroup', because it contains members of STAR, Lovesliescrushing, Majesty, and Mahogany, among others. They had a hiatus between 1997 and 2001, and came back on the scene almost instantaneously with this album. Alas, it didn't matter, because no one had a fucking clue who they were. And no unsuspecting music fans would by this album due to its absolutely horrendous album art.
Despite the somewhat sad story that may be called its 'fame', this album came at a time when the Shoegaze style was practically dead. 1998 through 2004 were years that no one really cared about the genre, and this album was released right smack in the middle of that time period. Honestly, its no surprise that no one knew who they were, because during their period from 1994-1997, all they released were a couple EPs on cassette, none of which are ever talked about, and none of which have been leaked or found online. Really, little information is known about Crush, and its their most well known album.
Who cares about its history, its how the album sounds that really matters. It sounds like the missing link in the My Bloody Valentine chain; an album that incorporates elements of Isn't Anything, and Loveless. Now, that being said, this band is definitley not a MBV clone, nor does it really sound like it. It just seems like My Bloody Valentine would listen to this right after Isn't Anything and said "Okay, lets try this on the next album." The album opens with 'Crasher', essentially the album track. Its starts off quiet, and then envelops you into a noisy, sonic landscape, with fuzzy guitars. The album seems to climax with 'Overdriver', A song that seems to vary between pure Noise Pop, Shoegaze and even almost Post-Punk at times. The album closes with 'Peachfuzz', which sounds like the Verse of 'Soon' by My Bloody Valentine. Like 'Soon' was for Loveless, this track is a great closure song, with a catchy drum beat, and a fine attempt at Kevin Shields's glide guitar. To be honest, glide guitar doesn't have a clear definition on what it is, but this might be what he was talking about. I would also like to point out that all the album tracks seem to have one word, which just seems like a Shoegaze LP trend in the 2000's. It just seems like it.
Rating: B+
1. Crasher
2. Radiofriendly
3. Bottlerocket
4. Lemondrop
5. Overdriver
6. Hopefully
7. Happysad
8. Blown
9. Crushed
10. Butterflykiss
11. Comet
12. Peachfuzz
Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?ydkkihyheth
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