Maribel - Aesthetics

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4...according to our Business Lady on Fri 13 Mar, 2009.

Maribel hail from Oslo, Norway and are clearly huge fans of the shoegazery of My Bloody Valentine and share much in common with fellow Nordic shoegazers Serena Maneesh. 'Aesthetics' reeks of MBV's late 80's output with layer upon layer of squalling feedback, deep basslines, often minimal drum beats and reverb saturated vocals. It's not at all bad benefiting from some solid production, courtesy of Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh) and Bjarne Stensli (Harrys Gym) of Serena Maneesh (we got ourselves a nordic shoegazer scene kicking off) and some quality girl/boy vocalism. First track 'Euphoric Licks' starts out traditionally enough with a steady build of repeat vocal motifs, mega minimal drums (just a lonely single bass drum beat per bar!!) and loads of carefully executed guitar feedback. So as not to get too bogged down Maribel are kind enough to pick up the tempo for follow up track and current single 'Taste the flesh'. It's kind of Maribel's equivalent of an indie club 'banger' refining shoegazer motifs into sugary sweet pop with the assistance of a decent well compressed drum beat. The rest of the album sees Maribel have a pop at the entire spectrum of S.G guitar indie. You've got a little of The Jesus and Mary chain here, some up tempo Ride moments over there, bits of Spacemen 3 with occasional nods to Medicine and The Velvet Underground along the way. I'm particularly impressed with the careful balance of ambient and upbeat tracks keeping the ten tracks from getting stale or repetitive. I'm sure this will hold a lot of appeal for folks investigating the now fully revived Shoegazer scene and will also appeal to older fans who are checking out the current crop of new additions to the genre with either positive intrigue or dismissive disdain.

Maribel are noisy quartet from Oslo, Norway. The debut album Aesthetics was produced by a bigger Norwegian musician Emil Nikolaisen (Serena Maneesh) alongside Bjarne Stensli (Harrys Gym). The album feature two guest musicians such as Audun Storset (The Lionheart Brothers) and Milton Von Krogh (Pirate Love) as well. They sound like The Jesus And Mary Chain rucking with The Cramps. Otherwise, it remind us mostly of My Bloody Valentine's 1988 record. The entire album are really amazing despite a damn drum like a machine. The abundant feedback squalls completely deprive of the ear, it's the heavily layered with buried female vocals and of course a passionate shoegaze fan must already be enough only in it. "The single 'Taste The Trash' is catchy and noisy. The vocals are incredible good and after the first 35 seconds I can't get it out of my head (...) Maribel sounds sexy. Dark and mysterious" - The norwegian fanzine Furore i harare

1. Euphoric Licks
2. Taste The Trash
3. Ecstatic
4. Soothe
5. Flesh & Blood
6. Deflowers
7. Downstairs
8. Anaesthetic
9. Siamese Eyes
10. Spit Voyage

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