Adrie

Blind Spot

Genre: INDIE / ALTERNATIVE

LP (Black Vinyl)

Boomkat Product Review:

Killer DIY/C86 avant-janglers for guitar, drums & vox somewhere on the spectrum between classic Sarah Records x Flying Nun, The Breeders’ ‘Pod’ and the Slint/Moin thing. Tipped!

Adrie’s sound is an angular but sweet ruckus that veers from fuzzed dreampop to lo-fi, countrified punk and garage, reminding us in places of everything from The Field Mice to Slint and The Breeders. The production is baked-in and oversaturated, recorded to 8-track Tascam portastudio, and capturing that specific late 80’s era without submitting to the trappings of nostalgia. What made that wave of lo-fi indie so creative and pure was more than just jangly chords and lackadaisical vocals, it was the blown-out self-guided production that stood in contrast to progressively more sterile releases from major studios at the time - a thing that Adrie nails perfectly on these 8 tunes.

It’s a sound that’s absorbingly mulched in a way that's completely at odds with contemporary engineering logic, and that's what makes it so addictive. 'Crucial Speculations' is almost revolutionary in its rejection of modern recording methodology - there's no autotune, no gridded drum patterns, no plasticky direct-injected digi-crunch guitar. It immediately reminds us of ramshackle US hardcore recordings and the charismatic run of Sarah Records, the Bristol-based indie imprint that released music from influential artists like Heavenly, The Field Mice and Boyracer. Elsewhere, 'You Don't Try' captures the wind-tunnel punkishness of Christchurch's Flying Nun, home to The Clean and The Dead C.

Our favourite moments come when Adrie strips things back to a whisper; on 'Stunned' her voice is pulled into sharp Nico-esque focus, echoing loudly over a faint rhythm, minuscule organ blasts and staccato guitar plucks. There's a theatrical grandeur to this one that separates it from Adrie's more maximalist material, and gives the album its unique character; 'Rocky Road' approaches a similar atmosphere, sounding almost like Beach House with its flimsy farfisa phrases, reverberating beat and disaffected vocals.

‘Blind Spot’ is an addictive, multi-layered listen - and one we just keep on going back to.

LP (Black Vinyl) (8)

Edition of 80 copies, includes a download of the album dropped to your account plus an insert with lyrics.

Play All LP (Black Vinyl) (8)

Boomkat Product Review:

Killer DIY/C86 avant-janglers for guitar, drums & vox somewhere on the spectrum between classic Sarah Records x Flying Nun, The Breeders’ ‘Pod’ and the Slint/Moin thing. Tipped!

‘Blind Spot’ is an addictive, multi-layered listen - and one we just keep on going back to.