One thing is for sure, California’s Floral are passionate about math rock. Quickly glossing over their Facebook page, there is somewhat of a daily Youtube-vid ode to a math rock band – and they’re always great choices.
Perhaps it is no surprise then that in their debut release, Floral EP, there are a number of math rock familiarities: angular, frenzied tapping on clean toned guitars (‘Balancing Act’ and ‘Climbing A Wall’); stop-start dynamics akin to bands like Uchu Conbini (‘Cars’); and many skewed time signatures (‘Picture Of Flower’). Fans of CHON and Enemies will no doubt nod their heads to the chilled but intermittently disjunctive chord progressions, most notably in the closer ‘Temple’.
Floral EP showcases one of the great paradoxes of contemporary math rock bands: the music is physically exhaustive but is emotionally soothing, idyllic and therapeutic. Most importantly, it’s done well. These young lads are making damn good innovative use of the blueprints.
For those looking for something that epitomizes the contemporary ‘clean-tapped’ sound of math rock, look no further. And for those looking for a sound that will slowly ease them away from shooting people in the park, bonus.
File Under
Math rock, tappity-tap, happy, twinkly, instrumental, soothing, disjunctive riffs
Sounds A Tad Like
CHON, Uchu Conbini, Enemies, Piglet, Invalids
Price
Location
Sydney, Down Under