Ambient, rainy-day rockers His Name is Alive must have been meant to be reviewed on this rainy, rainy Monday.
Their latest release, Xmmer, while mostly unpronounceable, is an album of multi-stringed arrangements and soft guitar rhythms, accompanied by the sometimes ’60s styled vocals of singer Andrea Morici. Tracks like “The Wolf Put His Mouth on Me,” combine soothing melodies with the harsher grooves of horns and jazz guitar, making for an interesting conglomeration indeed. Think a subdued Shiny Toy Guns making guitronica (i.e., guitar + electronica beats) lullabies, especially on tracks like “Put It In Your Mind,” and “Inta Ultra,” the latter of which has a distinctly retro feel to its rhythms and plucking.
This band has a very distinct style, which proves consistent throughout the whole album, yet almost reads as several long songs rather than 12 individual tracks. Despite this cohesiveness, this record has a very versatile sound; one that you could imagine listening to in bed, at a coffee shop, while you read, as a movie soundtrack, and so on. My only grievance with this album is a slight tendency towards repetition; similar beats and lyrical phrases within the album as well as within certain songs. However, overall, I can say with some certainty HNIA has put out a very decent album.
myspace.com/hisnameisalive
