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Incense | Approx 45 Min

Astounding debut from this Dutch band.
CD, Suburban/Bertus

Tekst: Bas Ickenroth

Publicatiedatum: 05 september 2001

Last year, this Dutch band won the biggest competition for newcomer bands in Holland. They now have just released their first official full-length album, and of course that's much more the moment of truth for a band. History proved too many times that those competition winners couldn't handle the pressure or simply weren't good enough to enter the big bad world. Well, this is not the case here. Incense have been building this monster with the help of Dutch master-producer Pidah in his studio the Void, and for the people who don't know which sound comes out of there: dynamic, transparent, and heavy. It's the perfect sound for music like this. And that's what it's all about really: the music. Incense roots in the underground guitar sound, created by names like Slint, Sonic Youth, and Motorpsycho. Especially the last band is the main influence here, in their mid-90s period ('Blissard', 'Angels and Daemons at Play'). Incense's adoration for that Motorpsycho period goes far, sometimes on the verge of plagiarism ("I see things somewhat different now," Motorpsycho fans will know what I mean.). But they pull it off, not in the least because the main inspirator doesn't make this kind of music anymore. What makes the difference is the songwriting skill from the band, as proven throughout the album. Without it, they would be nothing but a boring Motorpsycho-clone, but songs like 'Starlet' and 'Memo Stitch' are utterly great songs with beautiful, passionate, and emotive melodies. Not that all the songs are this great ('Leaving the Misery' is not really special.), but they make up for it with equal parts passion, conviction, and sincerity. And the fact the they sound like a true ensemble, a real unity, helps a lot as well. If they manage to be somewhat more original in the future, this band could be huge. For now, we have to make do with this great album.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/incense/approx-45-min/966/
Meer Incense op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/incense