The Aquarium

It may seem too easy to constantly talk about how Dischord has changed over the last few releases, since Fugazi went on hiatus/break, but it's almost too hard not to. The brilliant low-key efforts of the Evens, the multi-faceted French Toast, Soccer Team, J. Robbins revitalization with Channels are all notable. And with the debut from the duo the Aquarium, a new aspect has been added to the label's recent development. Having built a reputation for "hypnotic" live shows that sometimes feature film accompaniment, keyboardist/vocalist Jason Hutto and drummer Laura Harris are a surprisingly dense and multi-layered musical pairing. Dreamy, driving, and just skirting territory this side of psychedelic, their debut can best be summed up as a great soundtrack for an amazing film that can probably never be made. There are passages reminiscent of British Invasion, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Stevie Wonder, and many, many others. It's almost hard to believe that this is a duo. The arrangements are focused, but not so tight that a playful attitude is stifled. Sure, from time to time on listening to the record, it's tempting to try to figure out where you may have heard this keyboard or that keyboard, as many of the sounds have been heard in other places (one of Eddie Van Halen's old ones is in there), but Hutto manages to turn retro-kitsch into something irresistible. Hard to describe, but suffice it to say that once this disc goes in the player it's rather hard to take it out. Dischord has had many different bands over the years on the label, each with individual styles, and now they've got a rave-up band that is hard to sit still to. ~ Christopher M. True, Rovi