Ad Astra Per Aspera Reviewed
Ad Astra Per Aspera
Catapult Calypso
(Sonic Unyon)
Blistering debut from University Of Kansas spazmoids.
Catpult Calypso rarely stops to take a breath in its blur of 40 minutes, a screaming, scratching, glue-sniffing plow through jittery post punk. Rather than taking the disco inroads that are de rigeur these days, the lisping hi-hats take a backseat to Kurt Lane’s blood-curdling screech. Natural guitar harmonics are irresistible to the band on opening tracks “Voodoo Economics” and “Post-Scarcity Sing-A-Long,” and there’s a tendency to overload the arrangements with useless adornment, which ultimately subtracts from the songs’ inherent intensity. But when ducks are in a row, such as the stammering duo of “Unnamed Acoustic Songs” and “Glosbos Illuminados” or straitjacketed “The Romantic One” they rise above Les Savy Fav accusations. Other times, like ill-advised country roller “Everybody Lets Me Down,” try to do too much.
— Steve Forstneger
Appearing: October 28th at Tivioli in Downers Grove.
Click here to download “Post-Scarcity Sing-A-Long.”
