If you layered some jazz basslines, wandering funk harmonies, and modern keys in an indie rock setting, you’d end up with something like the wonderful band Throw Vision. They stunned the crowd at their LP release party at The Paperbox. The LP, called In I, is a beautiful debut album, fueled by gorgeous vocals, powerful lyrics, vocals and melodies, admirable group dynamics and clever songwriting. In I, which you can download for free or stream after the jump, is carefully crafted to waver between experimental, jazz, rock and soul music in an ear-opening way that challenges even an audiophile to classify.
The band is made up of multi-talented members Taja Cheek, Tiff O, Alex Goldberg and Dan Kleederman, who together will entice your musical sensibilities. Their sound is hard to define, even when their songs are slowly being unwound before an audience. Their music is characterized by layers of breathy, jazzy vocals that quiver in heartfelt harmonies and cascading rounds. These heavenly coos ring atop succinct psychedelic guitar reverb and spacey synthesizer riffs, lead by captivating and powerful drums, arrive at the point of awesome.
The point, in this case, is pleasantly confusing. Sometimes it’s an eruptingly loud climax, other times it’s the softest whimper of a guitar, calm vocals and scattered muted beats. While you drift back and forth, you’ll be overcome with the variety of influences that stretch each song – jazz, pop, experimental, funk, rock. Switching your body’s rhythm to adapt to a nostalgic atmospheric intro that will soon transform into jazzy and hypnotizing interlude (“Hold Your Tongue”), you’ll realize there’s a lot more to this band than the Brooklyn Indie title they’ve started to earn. No wonder they list Nina Simone, Philip Glass, and Animal Collective as influences on their Facebook page.
There’s definitely something satisfying about not knowing where a band’s sound will take you. Too often, debut albums wind in a circle that seems enticing at first but never takes off beyond a few jangy chords. The opposite applies for this album, which I’ve been streaming from Bandcamp since it debuted. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the twists of each song flowing together and transitioning. The unexpected roaring guitar solos towards the end of “3,4,5 (I lost)”, rapid-fire cymbals and almost drone tendencies drift into the hymn-like chanting of vocals coated in thick soul on “Nonah,” which brings to mind both the vocal power of both Hundred Waters and Alabama Shakes. Then the next song, “Ere,” mingles repetitive tribal beats with shrieky, emotive vocals that resemble the screeches of Montreal’s Braids. This album, pulling on each of its influences and encompassing all of its many moods, it’s a wonderful ride.
Like Throw Vision on Facebook to keep up-to-date with their new releases and show dates. Download In I for free at their bandcamp site. And keep tuned to Bushwick Music Crush for more burgeoning musical discoveries.
