release date: Feb. 12, 2021
format: digital (9 x File, FLAC)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,52]
producer: Fraser Marshall
label: Inertia Music - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 1. "Sweetie" - 2. "Arrow" - 3. "Pastel" - 4. "She's Gonna Hate Me!" - 7. "Die Happily" - 9. "Jan 1"
2nd studio album by Australian music project Fritz (stylised FRITZ) consisting of Matilda Murphy (aka Tilly Murphy) on vocals, rhythm guitar and bass, Cody Brougham on (lead) guitar, and with Darren James on drums. Or at least that's what you could think, and then in the band's music videos you may also see a (second) bass player and a keyboard player, although the band members apparently only count Murphy, Brougham, and James. Matilda is also credited as songwriter and composer. The band is based in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and before Pastel they released the self-promoted album FRITZ in 2017 - which makes Pastel the band's debut on an actual label.
It's music somewhere in between The Vaccines, Jezabels, and Dum Dum Girls with clear inspiration from My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Breeders and Swedish The Radio Dept. with a balance between light noise pop, classic dream pop and what perhaps should be referred to as pop-grunge. The album consists of nine songs with a modest running time of just under half an hour.
It may be the kind of music that sounds as if made in the 90s, but it has a naive freshness and unimpressiveness that could stem from the fact that the band members have only just stepped out of their teenage years. Musically, it could be described as somewhat narrow - both in terms of production sound and in the variation of the individual compositions - but it's nevertheless delightfully refreshing at a time when music is something that ideally requires a new producer (or preferably several) for each track, and where the compositions should ideally be piled up in countless soundtracks and advanced arrangements to perhaps cover up the fact that the good songs are basically missing. After a quick spin, you might feel like uttering 'was that it? I mean, the whole album?' And yes, it is kinda short, sweet and most of all, it sounds promising for the future, so we have another real alternative to Eilish (and bro), Del Rey, multi-billionaire West and all the other overrated and overproduced hitmakers.
Recommended.
[ 👍Awfultrackrecord.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]
