Headphone Overtone - Summer of Love
(Pleasing Media)
Hamilton, Ontario's Headphone Overtone specialize
in hazy atmospherics. In fact, when I first listened
to the album I thought that I was listening to "Eric's
Song" by Slowdive--luckily I like that song very much,
and so I also like the album very much.
With song titles like "Beach Blue" and "Mellow
Psychoactive," I was a little worried it was going to
be nothing more than a clichéd version of early
90s shoegazer bands--it turned out, however, to
be far more interesting. For the most part the album
focuses on atmospherics, with the occasional grounding
with up-front lyrics. These atmospherics, though,
have a much airier, lighter feel than most similar
bands such as Stars of the Lid and Windy and Carl.
The only weaknesses to the album are the vocals.
They are by no means terrible, but they can be a
little distracting from the hazy trance the rest of
the album produces and also can be slightly hokey.
In spite of this, however, "Summer of Love" is a
sensitive and well executed album.
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