Maðana El Espacio - Casi Nada Es Para Siempre

Facts Sure, I know a number of bands from Brazil, Peru, Chile and Argentina, but unless I'm mistaken, this might be the first Venezuelan-based band I've heard - and oh boy, what an introduction! The group's leader, Ricardo, emailed me out of the blue with a link to this self-released digital album, and I was absolutely convinced I needed to put this out to share with the world by the end of the second song! The album was recorded at home, but even though you can hear that in the overall recording quality, Ricardo's proficient use of layering and the assortment of effects on the guitars and tastefully-added extra instrumentation enhance the songs incredibly well and adds more than you'd might think - and the more times I listen to these songs, the more enjoyable nuances I notice. Musically, I could pick out a variety of influences, from early Field Mice (you could seamlessly sneak "Navegando El Vacío" onto the "For Keeps" LP without raising an eyebrow - assuming you swapped out the Spanish lyrics, of course), a subtler Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (what, did he fly Peggy down to add those magical twinkling keyboards?) and it's associated dreamier off-shoots (particularly the Depreciation Guild), to the sheer garage indiepop perfection of those early Catwalk 7"s. This is a really good debut LP, and you can bet we'll be hearing more from them again!