I tend to favor, highlight and esteem music that is progressive and risky; truthfully, as a critic, I'll almost always favor an experimental flop over a pleasing and safe record. That said, there is understated significance in a smartly self-aware record like Space Raft's eponymous debut. While Space Raft's debut is far from a flop or a boring attempt at rehashing past influences, it is a record that finds Jordan Davis, Tjay Christenson, Srini Radhakrishna and Tyler Chicorel fully embracing one another's stylings in favor of pushing the envelope. This is not a bad thing, minus a few moments of dull lyricism.
Their debut, which came out a few weeks back on Dusty Medical, has a sort of blistering, motorized propulsion that weaves the tracks together into what feels like one grand piece of precisely manipulated guitar drawls, tactfully texturized organ/piano bits and spot-on drum rhythms. The group's bounty of experience and pedigree is a tempting explanation for their cohesive sound, but when considering the likes of other so-called super groups like Monsters of Folk, Velvet Revolver and many others, it is obvious that technical ability will never be a sufficient explanation. What I'm really getting at is that Space Raft have a special chemistry that rarely manifest itself at all, let alone after just one year of playing together.
Grab the record at Dusty Medical
