Astpai | Efforts & Means | CD

Description

….The opener, Suburban Prelude, consists of disjointed, delayed guitars under a sample from the movie ‘Suburbia’, which builds up the tension nicely into the unbridled fury of Biting Dogs Don’t Chew, pretty much setting the pace for the rest of the record.
I’m not going to dissect each track in detail, because it will make this review overly long and overly reverent, so I will just focus on the standouts. Honest Or Sentimental is one of those rare things, a six minute song that doesn’t drag, twisting effortlessly though different sections and catchy hooks, and even featuring some guest vocals from Chris Cresswell of The Flatliners. Becoming Strangers is something of an extension of Astpai’s penchant for writing in 6/8 that was done so well with ‘Southwards’, which featured on their last album, and beautifully encapsulates the notion of friendship within the DIY scene.
For me, there hasn’t been a better album released this year and it is definitely worth your time to give ‘Efforts And Means’ a listen, because these guys deserve to be huge.