So, if you got a bit bored waiting for a new review, well, I have something to say to you. Here's my new project – some place for new bands that are starting their career and are yet to have a full-length release (well, I don't promise you I'll strictly obey this rule). I hope, that this article is not the last and there will be more to come soon. That is it for introductions, now let us see, what is this article actually about.
Today I present you, for the first time ever and maybe the last, though I hope no, a band from my home country, Lithuania, even from my home city, Vilnius, a stunning electronic and rock music mixing five piece Without Letters. The band, that was founded in 2008, currently consists of guitarist Adomas Narkevičius, another guitarist plus keyboardist and occasional vocalist Jonas Denapas, bassist Artūras Barkus, drummer Karolis Valiauga, who joined the band in 2012, and the Error Broadcast signee Miša Skalskis, better recognised as 96wrld, however for now his place in the band is taken by another electronic music producer, Tomas Narkevičius, also known as Fingalick. The two latter musicians, better known on their own than with the band, joined later in Without Letters' career, while Algirdas Tiuninas, the original vocalist, left in 2011/2012. So, the band started slowly and already then, perhaps, showed their original approach to work – queit and meticulous. In 2010 they debuted the song "Ausgeträumt" as part of a film, which received some attention in a few film festivals. The early Without Letters, though channelling some present day indie trends and following in the footsteps of bands such as Foals, added a sprinkle of math rock, noise rock, electronic bits to give a distinct feel to it. As well as Foals, they cited Battles as an inspiration and such acts as Mount Kimbie, so, collecting from such varied fields, they managed to serve something unique. In the end, the song was rather evoking and not as dull as it may seem now, given the eventual evolvement of the band. After a year, two more stand-alone singles came out, "Awake/Asleep" and "Shelter Gone", both receiving music videos, that use footage of old films, both music videos made by the guitarist Narkevičius. The former of those songs was originally tagged as "weird pop" on the band's Soundcloud profile, yet it is far from anything pop, if you look closely, while in fact being the most accessible song the band has ever released, it never ceases to evoke new unforeseen feels and show new views. The latter, in my opinion, is the best Without Letters song on the whole. The beautiful soundscapes and haunting vocals are perfectly suitable for each other with some marvellous guitars added. However, this came to be the last song of the band to feature vocals...
Then came the turning point – the band shifted from indie rock to exploring the green fields of electronics, leaving aside vocals and straightforward guitar playing, whilst picking up new additions to their growing nature. Though regularly playing gigs, Without Letters had not released anything for two years. In early last year, they stepped over the boundaries of Lithuania to play the acclaimed Tallinn Music Week as well as to play the Positivus festival in Latvia. The band met more and more critical acclaim, first of all, for their distinct and unmatched style and not being a sort of mere copy cats, what is rather casual in our country. So, as a person, who never went to a gig, all I can tell is from their magnificent performance on "LRT Opus Ore", a live performance in studio on the national radio and TV broadcaster, airing live on the national radio's third program and then shown on TV, a sort of Lithuanian "From the Basement". Without Letters performed nearly all they have, playing two covers as well. The wonderful performance really was something to see, in my opinion. Already while touring and performing for "LRT Opus Ore", Without Letters were in the process of making their debut EP, that was released on the 7th of May this year and is weirdly titled "Self-titled", well, witty lads... To my disappointement, it only features 4 songs plus two remixes. Well, the approach of the band seems rather strange to me, but it is their nature to be meticulous, hard-working and aim at quality, not at quantity. This is what places them apart from most of the bands in our country. This kind of seriousness and respectability, that reminds me of These New Puritans. While generally indie rock finds its way through drunk parties and wild gigs... So, Without Letters are these serious heroes, who don't talk, but show, what they have got. This year already had enough highlights for them for most bands to be content with- playing Tallinn Music Week for the second time, supporting Mount Kimbie in Riga and Vilnius, and many more still to come, as well as the premiere of another video directed by the guitarist Narkevičius, this time he got original and interpreted the band's mixing nature, erm, very literally, but what is the result is perhaps the best music video I have seen this year on the whole. So, here we come to the last part, dedicated to "Self-titled", because the video is for the lead single off the release, "Arch".
"Self-titled" EP, however, features only 4 songs, and it's concepts, as well as the "Arch" video concept, is something to talk about. The band, from the very begining desperately avoiding being copy cats, now faced this task seriously – as they say, this EP is not a use of a superficial and already produced aesthetic, but rather a try at re-living the mind-sets that started some genres of music, mostly some electronic music genres, and, even more, the four songs represent an attempt to merge rock music/guitar music with four different styles of electronic music. Wait, wait, wait, what? This is a kind of peculiar approach, that I have rarely encountered, if ever, actually. What I felt, reading this, was that the band kind of come across as snobs. The pretentious way of explaining a meaning, allegedly not accessible to the multitude, well... But, do not get me wrong – to be pretentious, when you are worth it is cool. And they are worth being who they want to. Even standing alone, Without Letters are being compared to the likes of electronic music, indie rock and post rock, as well as even psychedelic rock, people spend hours like archaeologists, digging and trying to find out where is there the trace of which genre or style of electronic music. I won't try to do this anyway... The EP starts with a song, called "ZR0", which itself starts with rather striking bubbling and bleeping electronics, then finding its way into the indie rock section, adding some kind of shouts and exclamations, while the guitar reaches unexpected heights. The funny fact is, that there is a song by 96wrld, called "Bruce Willis", that is almost the same, just more straightforward electronic, furthermore, as I want to make my point that Without Letters remind me of nothing as much as of Radiohead, it would be suitable here to note, that this relationship between songs reminds me of "Reckoner" and "Pulled Apart By Horses": those songs are basically the same, but sound completely different. So, this was entertaining and cool. The second track, "Inverted Cycles", too starts with the sample-heavy electronic intro, while finally moving on to conventional indie, while always ready to throw some electronic snow ball at your face, while you laze in the bliss of riffs, that are so evoking and emotional and are no less grabbing than any indie rock, that is really much more popular than this band. This song is the best off this EP, in my opinion, and is the second best on the whole, runner up to "Shelter Gone". The third track is the already aforementioned "Self-titled's" lead single "Arch". Delay and delay, with some crunchy guitar sounds, then some more guitar riffs, but always a hint of electronic music, and a psychedelic ending with some feedback. Nice IDM paced track as well. But, well, as I said, the feedback, so, the feedback actually makes it to the next track, "Night at Palm Peaks". Suddenly there is a change and some fragile bleeping electronics here and there. Some more strange riffs and a certain tired sadness. The end is wonderful. Yet this song is a bit slow and sleepy, though presenting the best drumming on the EP, after all. So, after all, "Self-titled" is a fine debut, however it might have been longer and have had more tracks, but maybe that is the way Without Letters approach their tasks- they look like perfectionists to me, actually, and never act, as expected. The remixes do sound good, but I am poor at this so I have not so much to say about them, 96wrld's remix of "Arch" , however, is rather long and not so interesting, and Napo's, who is another bright Lithuanian electronic music youngster, named Leonas Rėčkus, remix for "Inverted Cycles" is really nice, even though succumbing to those plain and boring club appealing pop sensibilities carried electronics. But it ends on a high note, ending the album.
My personal comparison, if there is still room left for comparisons, is, as I have mentioned previously, Radiohead. Especially the electronic music using "The King Of Limbs" era Radiohead, not the exact sound, but the aesthetics, the understanding, the approach to music writing. While Radiohead remained in bounds, Without Letters sneak behind any bounds, yet always stay original and unique. This originality is what is so similar to Radiohead, what means, that the Vilnius natives stay true to themselves, while experimenting with whatever they find on their path. Given their approach to work and original aesthetic, starting with strange videos, ending with the way they present themselves, the way they released the EP on vinyl and much more to add, Without Letters are a promising band really worthwhile to listen, perhaps the best in Lithuania. Yet they lose sometimes, compared to acclaimed acts from abroad, but they, in their country, are on a different level, and present things never seen in our country.
Good things: the soundscape in "Shelter Gone", the soul-piercing riffs in "Inverted Cycles"
Bad things: the boring part in "Night at Palm Peaks", the snobbish way of presenting their style
Without Letters:
https://www.facebook.com/WithoutLetters
https://soundcloud.com/without-letters
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
Buy "Self-titled" here:
http://withoutletters.bigcartel.com/product/self-titled-ep
http://vinylshop.lt/without-letters-self-titled-ep
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
Or listen to it here:
http://www.withoutlettersep.com/
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
Today I present you, for the first time ever and maybe the last, though I hope no, a band from my home country, Lithuania, even from my home city, Vilnius, a stunning electronic and rock music mixing five piece Without Letters. The band, that was founded in 2008, currently consists of guitarist Adomas Narkevičius, another guitarist plus keyboardist and occasional vocalist Jonas Denapas, bassist Artūras Barkus, drummer Karolis Valiauga, who joined the band in 2012, and the Error Broadcast signee Miša Skalskis, better recognised as 96wrld, however for now his place in the band is taken by another electronic music producer, Tomas Narkevičius, also known as Fingalick. The two latter musicians, better known on their own than with the band, joined later in Without Letters' career, while Algirdas Tiuninas, the original vocalist, left in 2011/2012. So, the band started slowly and already then, perhaps, showed their original approach to work – queit and meticulous. In 2010 they debuted the song "Ausgeträumt" as part of a film, which received some attention in a few film festivals. The early Without Letters, though channelling some present day indie trends and following in the footsteps of bands such as Foals, added a sprinkle of math rock, noise rock, electronic bits to give a distinct feel to it. As well as Foals, they cited Battles as an inspiration and such acts as Mount Kimbie, so, collecting from such varied fields, they managed to serve something unique. In the end, the song was rather evoking and not as dull as it may seem now, given the eventual evolvement of the band. After a year, two more stand-alone singles came out, "Awake/Asleep" and "Shelter Gone", both receiving music videos, that use footage of old films, both music videos made by the guitarist Narkevičius. The former of those songs was originally tagged as "weird pop" on the band's Soundcloud profile, yet it is far from anything pop, if you look closely, while in fact being the most accessible song the band has ever released, it never ceases to evoke new unforeseen feels and show new views. The latter, in my opinion, is the best Without Letters song on the whole. The beautiful soundscapes and haunting vocals are perfectly suitable for each other with some marvellous guitars added. However, this came to be the last song of the band to feature vocals...
Then came the turning point – the band shifted from indie rock to exploring the green fields of electronics, leaving aside vocals and straightforward guitar playing, whilst picking up new additions to their growing nature. Though regularly playing gigs, Without Letters had not released anything for two years. In early last year, they stepped over the boundaries of Lithuania to play the acclaimed Tallinn Music Week as well as to play the Positivus festival in Latvia. The band met more and more critical acclaim, first of all, for their distinct and unmatched style and not being a sort of mere copy cats, what is rather casual in our country. So, as a person, who never went to a gig, all I can tell is from their magnificent performance on "LRT Opus Ore", a live performance in studio on the national radio and TV broadcaster, airing live on the national radio's third program and then shown on TV, a sort of Lithuanian "From the Basement". Without Letters performed nearly all they have, playing two covers as well. The wonderful performance really was something to see, in my opinion. Already while touring and performing for "LRT Opus Ore", Without Letters were in the process of making their debut EP, that was released on the 7th of May this year and is weirdly titled "Self-titled", well, witty lads... To my disappointement, it only features 4 songs plus two remixes. Well, the approach of the band seems rather strange to me, but it is their nature to be meticulous, hard-working and aim at quality, not at quantity. This is what places them apart from most of the bands in our country. This kind of seriousness and respectability, that reminds me of These New Puritans. While generally indie rock finds its way through drunk parties and wild gigs... So, Without Letters are these serious heroes, who don't talk, but show, what they have got. This year already had enough highlights for them for most bands to be content with- playing Tallinn Music Week for the second time, supporting Mount Kimbie in Riga and Vilnius, and many more still to come, as well as the premiere of another video directed by the guitarist Narkevičius, this time he got original and interpreted the band's mixing nature, erm, very literally, but what is the result is perhaps the best music video I have seen this year on the whole. So, here we come to the last part, dedicated to "Self-titled", because the video is for the lead single off the release, "Arch".
"Self-titled" EP, however, features only 4 songs, and it's concepts, as well as the "Arch" video concept, is something to talk about. The band, from the very begining desperately avoiding being copy cats, now faced this task seriously – as they say, this EP is not a use of a superficial and already produced aesthetic, but rather a try at re-living the mind-sets that started some genres of music, mostly some electronic music genres, and, even more, the four songs represent an attempt to merge rock music/guitar music with four different styles of electronic music. Wait, wait, wait, what? This is a kind of peculiar approach, that I have rarely encountered, if ever, actually. What I felt, reading this, was that the band kind of come across as snobs. The pretentious way of explaining a meaning, allegedly not accessible to the multitude, well... But, do not get me wrong – to be pretentious, when you are worth it is cool. And they are worth being who they want to. Even standing alone, Without Letters are being compared to the likes of electronic music, indie rock and post rock, as well as even psychedelic rock, people spend hours like archaeologists, digging and trying to find out where is there the trace of which genre or style of electronic music. I won't try to do this anyway... The EP starts with a song, called "ZR0", which itself starts with rather striking bubbling and bleeping electronics, then finding its way into the indie rock section, adding some kind of shouts and exclamations, while the guitar reaches unexpected heights. The funny fact is, that there is a song by 96wrld, called "Bruce Willis", that is almost the same, just more straightforward electronic, furthermore, as I want to make my point that Without Letters remind me of nothing as much as of Radiohead, it would be suitable here to note, that this relationship between songs reminds me of "Reckoner" and "Pulled Apart By Horses": those songs are basically the same, but sound completely different. So, this was entertaining and cool. The second track, "Inverted Cycles", too starts with the sample-heavy electronic intro, while finally moving on to conventional indie, while always ready to throw some electronic snow ball at your face, while you laze in the bliss of riffs, that are so evoking and emotional and are no less grabbing than any indie rock, that is really much more popular than this band. This song is the best off this EP, in my opinion, and is the second best on the whole, runner up to "Shelter Gone". The third track is the already aforementioned "Self-titled's" lead single "Arch". Delay and delay, with some crunchy guitar sounds, then some more guitar riffs, but always a hint of electronic music, and a psychedelic ending with some feedback. Nice IDM paced track as well. But, well, as I said, the feedback, so, the feedback actually makes it to the next track, "Night at Palm Peaks". Suddenly there is a change and some fragile bleeping electronics here and there. Some more strange riffs and a certain tired sadness. The end is wonderful. Yet this song is a bit slow and sleepy, though presenting the best drumming on the EP, after all. So, after all, "Self-titled" is a fine debut, however it might have been longer and have had more tracks, but maybe that is the way Without Letters approach their tasks- they look like perfectionists to me, actually, and never act, as expected. The remixes do sound good, but I am poor at this so I have not so much to say about them, 96wrld's remix of "Arch" , however, is rather long and not so interesting, and Napo's, who is another bright Lithuanian electronic music youngster, named Leonas Rėčkus, remix for "Inverted Cycles" is really nice, even though succumbing to those plain and boring club appealing pop sensibilities carried electronics. But it ends on a high note, ending the album.
My personal comparison, if there is still room left for comparisons, is, as I have mentioned previously, Radiohead. Especially the electronic music using "The King Of Limbs" era Radiohead, not the exact sound, but the aesthetics, the understanding, the approach to music writing. While Radiohead remained in bounds, Without Letters sneak behind any bounds, yet always stay original and unique. This originality is what is so similar to Radiohead, what means, that the Vilnius natives stay true to themselves, while experimenting with whatever they find on their path. Given their approach to work and original aesthetic, starting with strange videos, ending with the way they present themselves, the way they released the EP on vinyl and much more to add, Without Letters are a promising band really worthwhile to listen, perhaps the best in Lithuania. Yet they lose sometimes, compared to acclaimed acts from abroad, but they, in their country, are on a different level, and present things never seen in our country.
Good things: the soundscape in "Shelter Gone", the soul-piercing riffs in "Inverted Cycles"
Bad things: the boring part in "Night at Palm Peaks", the snobbish way of presenting their style
Without Letters:
https://www.facebook.com/WithoutLetters
https://soundcloud.com/without-letters
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
Buy "Self-titled" here:
http://withoutletters.bigcartel.com/product/self-titled-ep
http://vinylshop.lt/without-letters-self-titled-ep
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
Or listen to it here:
http://www.withoutlettersep.com/
http://withoutletters.bandcamp.com/
