Van Houten - The Tallest Room Review
Decades of inspiration boils down into a concise distillation of psychedelic and motorik noise as guitar harmonies slide in and out of focus.
Growling feedback multiplies to fill the air. Explosive drums snap into the mix. Sharp bass fills the low end until a sudden sonic shift gives way to intoxicating, intricate guitar harmonies. Van Houten, the Leeds based shoegaze sextet, draw on a wide range of influences to craft their powerful sophomore release. Implementing elements from 70s krautrock to 90s shoegaze & contemporary post-punk, ‘The Tallest Room’ finds the band releasing through the new label imprint Clue Records / EMI North and exploring their sonic possibilities.
Van Houten have incorporated their inspirations deep into the DNA of ‘The Tallest Room’ rather than wearing them on their sleeves. Genres blend together in a swirling mass of sound with ambient interludes linking tracks together. Elements of Eno, Fripp & Basinski flood forth, providing tangible texture and atmosphere to fill any hint of silence.
There's not a wasted note throughout the release. Guitar arpeggios are used where strummed chords would normally sit; adding space to the melodies & allowing the instruments to interlock to produce shifting harmonies. Sweet melodies crash and fall away into crackling and emotive soundscapes. The first single ‘Coming of Age’ implements these elements perfectly to create an insatiably catchy dream pop tune that bounces from speaker to speaker.
Album highlight, ‘Panoramic View’ sees Van Houten slow in tempo and grow in space. The softly spoken vocals of Louis Sadler rise above the bed of deftly picked guitar. Whiring harmony fills the gaps between the persistent rhythm to produce a song that ebbs and flows with energy; pushing the track gently along until the structure snaps and grants an unexpected break in melody. Wailing guitars feedback into themselves and slowly dissipate into a saccharine cloud of reverberation that leads straight into the following track.
‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ is the most straightforward indie rock tune on the release. A hooky chorus grabs the listeners attention and holds it back into the stripped down verses until the track quickly fades away. Swapping to a waltz-like swing, ‘Head Straight’ drops the pace right down. Space is amplified between the watery guitar tones as the singer confesses a need for time out. Distortion rises in the chorus to add gloom to the atmosphere as swaths of reverberated low vocals rise and fall into crushing depths. In the final section, Van Houten fills the room with crushing noise, allowing their guitars to completely break apart in the shadows.
‘The Tallest Room’ is a sharp and powerful release. Its pristine production perfectly compliments its fuzzed out walls of sound. Decades of inspiration boils down into a concise distillation of psychedelic and motorik noise as guitar harmonies slide in and out of focus. Van Houten has managed to craft a refined piece of modern shoegaze, displaying their versatile talent across the eight inventive tracks.