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- Summary: This is the debut full-length album for the Chicago-based foursome.
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- Record Label: Carpark
- Genre(s): Electronic, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Electronic
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 10
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Mixed: 6 out of 10
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Negative: 0 out of 10
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Credit must be given to LP mastermind Jim Cicero, who at age 23 proves he's wiser than his years by crafting a set of compelling tunes that sound surprisingly distinct despite the past and present musical inspirations that could've just as easily overwhelmed it.
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Apparitions is a solid debut that both emulates the band's contemporaries and revisits a once influential genre that most of that peer group have all but abandoned.
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This feeling of isolation envelops the bulk of Apparitions. It's a psychedelic, claustrophobic mush of layered synthesizers, organs, drum pads, and breezy voices reflecting against the walls of wide-open corridors; evocative of the unsettling feeling of being completely alone in a very big space, a la David Bowman or Sam Bell.
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Occasionally, the band misses its target. "Fever Dreams" is danceable and slick, and "Drunk Kids" sounds a bit too much like it's sung by one of the kids the title references. However, all in all, Apparitions is an ambitious and satisfying debut.
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Their careers adviser-flouting debut is in the mould of the greats rather than carving a new sound.
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Nearly the entirety of Apparitions feels covered by some haze that's equal parts car exhaust and glitter.
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The record can at times feel static and repetitious, revisiting the same structural devices numerous times and using a lot of the same timbres and ambient sounds on every track.