Product Description
1. Mountain view 03:51
2. Transience 04:06
3. How To Cope “When You’re Alone” 04:30
4. Interventionist 03:46
5. Complete 03:58
2. Transience 04:06
3. How To Cope “When You’re Alone” 04:30
4. Interventionist 03:46
5. Complete 03:58
Makaras Pen’s alternative rock, dreampop stylings create a wall of captivating sounds. The driving beat and cascading guitars are punctuated and accented by crashing percussion and Jenna Willis’ incredible soaring vocals. The tracks go from soft and simple, to strong, lush and distorted, following that shoegaze pattern of delicate and sweet at first rushing headlong to a powerful climax. Atop the ringing guitars (provided by Doug White and Jon Nemi), Jenna’s sensitive and heartfelt vocals sing sad yet hopeful lyrics. Doug says, “The guitars on this EP try to balance a very somber mood, keeping it epic to counter the new-found positive inspiration in Jenna’s lyrics.”
Reviews Editor –
From Onda Rock
Chissà se oggi che gli Slowdive si sono riformati e hanno annunciato un nuovo album qualcuno si accorgerà dei gruppi sotterranei che in loro assenza hanno tenuto viva la fiamma della miglior dreamwave negli ultimi vent’anni. Per farsi un’idea della scena shoegaze rimasta fuori dalle mappe che contano basta dare un’occhiata al catalogo della Projekt, una delle poche etichette che ha sempre seguito il genere da vicino. Tra gli ultimi arrivati nel catalogo della storica etichetta gestita da Sam Rosenthal ci sono i Makaras Pen di Doug White, già chitarrista nei formidabili Tearwave (un’altra meteora shoegaze lanciata dalla Projekt).
Dopo un album ben accolto anche da queste parti, e un secondo disco autoprodotto (“A Petal Among Bricks”), sono arrivati due Ep disponibili solo in formato “liquido”: “Linger”, nel 2012, e Journeys To The End, disponibile sul negozio online della Projekt al prezzo di una birra piccola già da qualche settimana.
In scaletta cinque canzoni che confermano la facilità con cui Doug scrive melodie che sembrano nate per muoversi tra cascate di chitarre elettriche appese alle nuvole. “Mountan View” e “Complete”, le due tracce che aprono e chiudono l’Ep, sono ricoperte dal “wall of sound” tipico degli Slowdive; “Transience” è una gemma pop stracolma di malinconia pronta a esplodere in una cavalcata inarrestabile; e sulla ballata “How To Cope ‘When You’re Alone'” i Marakas Pen omaggiano due dei loro gruppi preferiti degli anni 80, Church e Chameleons. Rating: 7 (very good) – Roberto Mandolini
Reviews Editor –
From Gothic Paradise
Out of pity for the poor fans that have been waiting for something new and great from this band, we’re finally presented with this five-track EP. It was great to hear about these fresh new tracks, some of which fans have heard long before this release if you’ve been following the band on Facebook or other social media networks. With the release of their track “Mountain View” the band presented us with a video to enjoy that’s worth checking out if you haven’t seen it already.
The band continues to build on their style of fast-paced, guitar-driven ethereal shoegaze with Emma’s siren-like vocals staying strong amidst the moving beats and myriad of guitars. “Mountain View” kicks it off with the soaring guitars creating an excellent atmosphere backing the dreamy vocals. The emotional intensity emanates from the music not just from the vocals and lyrics, but also from the captivating instruments that seem to bring on a life of their own. The somber moods give way to something a bit more upbeat with “Transience” and the vocals singing out the catchy phrase “I still feel happy when it rains…” as the soaring guitars ring out seemingly echoing across hills and valleys for miles. Coming to a close we drift into the heartbreakingly-beautiful piece “How to Cope ‘When You’re Alone'”. The vocals on this piece are clear and beautiful, almost heavenly as they move along the crisp pace of the driving percussion and grinding, driving guitars.
“Interventionist” keeps the pace and intensity up as the album moves along with Emma’s spell-binding vocals floating along over the driving range of various grinding, soaring, equally captivating guitars and bass. The finale to this EP is the appropriately named track “Complete”, starting off with somber, moody, heart-breaking guitars as a short intro before the rhythm and intensity kicks back in as we’re driven along on the waves of somber sounds to the end of the album. Bringing it to a close, we have here another great work from these talented artists. -Jacob
Reviews Editor –
From Sound & Vision
¿Alguna vez escucharon a Tearwave? Fue uno de los más recientes actos de Doug White en donde lanzó buenos álbumes de ethereal shoegazer que enfriaron los últimos años de la década pasada, creando un frente importante de avanzada al lado de otras fugaces propuestas como Ether Aura y The Daysleepers. Ahora, el músico y también CEO de Watching Recording Studios está inmerso en un nuevo proyecto cuyo sonido no solamente se basa en el repetitivo -y adecuado- uso del delay y reverb en melodías que atrapan en la oscuridad, sino que ofrece algo más, no detrás del ruido, sino por delante de éste con la fusión de algunos subgéneros musicales que matizan su sonido a uno más digerible pero igual de misteriosamente seductor. Me refiero a Makaras Pen, la nueva apuesta del mítico sello Projekt.
Su más reciente y fresco lanzamiento, Journeys to the End, un EP de cinco temas inéditos, nos sugiere una visión quizás no tan profunda como la del común shoegazer, pero sí una más rica en instrumentación y estructura pues se perciben -aunque de forma delicada- claros elementos del indie rock-pop y del dreampop, flotando en la simpleza (parte del encanto) de sus notas pero caminando en la complejidad de su sonido. El tema inicial “Mountain View”, por ejemplo, se compone de texturas lo-fi y un puente instrumental eléctrico rudo, pero en esencia es etéreo y delicado. Por su parte “Transience” y “How To Cope ‘When You’re Alone’” nos regresan al pop noventero de bandas como Lush y The Heart Throbs – o Asobi Seksu en el nuevo siglo-, la última compuesta incluso de estridentes acordes acústicos. “Interventionist” y “Complete” exhiben más altos decibeles y una mayor intensidad en la voz de Jenna, con espirales sónicas en guitarras reflejadas en los requintos y paredes de ruido sutil reflejadas en sus pedales:
Sin duda alguna es un trabajo que puede servir para atraer a potenciales y nuevos fans del shoegazer, desde una perspectiva más digerible por esa mezcla de elementos amigables que derivan de otros subgéneros alternativos que hacen de Makaras Pen una banda que seduce, atrapa y luego muerde sutilmente. -Alex