Ashelyn
"Demonstration" CDR EP
Self-released
Genres: experimental pop, indie pop, lo-fi
email the
band
Jan 24 - 30 2005 |
The press photo says it all - all it shows is Ashelyn's four
members standing around, looking disinterested. Three of them
have glasses (two of which have those ultra-chic wide rims), and they
all appear intentionally nerdy-but-hip. As a reviewer, I have to
put up with dozens of these band photos a week, and it always
surprises me how many of them look exactly the same.
Anyway, the point of that brief diatribe was to introduce Ashelyn's
three-song EP, which is just as generically hip as their picture would
suggest. The band is a self-proclaimed "experimental
pop" act - that's a deviously vague tag, though they can be
better described as playing intricate, emo-tinged indie pop
music. Like their expressions on the photograph, the band seems
pretty disinterested over the course of this CDR - the vocals are
bland and unpolished, the compositions are filled with strange musical
decisions, and the whole thing isn't particularly gripping.
Perhaps some problems can be resolved with an increase in production
values, but I still can't see a song like "A Toast to Solidarity" ever getting
anywhere with its uninteresting, ineffective melody. The band
seems to be going for the emo/indie rock sound, but it doesn't
work. They often hit upon a nice concept (the guitar melody
during the verse of "Bill Gates," for example), but seem to mess it
up later on (the almost hilariously abysmal ending singing on
"Bill Gates," for example.) With that said, they do have the
general idea down pretty well; perhaps with a bit of time, Ashelyn
could evolve into something more successful - that is, if they inject
a bit more creativity and accessibility into their songs.
64%
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
12 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2004] |