Search - All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors :: All Natural Lemon & Lime Flavors

A shimmering cacophony of guitars

Wickerlove | Canada | 03/16/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There's no questioning what you'll get on this CD, guitars...and lots of it. For a band of such talent and creativity, it's a shame All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors languished in musical obscurity. Taking a bit from both My Bloody Valentine's template and neo-psychadelic experimentalism, this self-titled release is a shimmering cacophony of guitars. The shoegaze influence is evident, but what's interesting is how All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors tries to vary it's guitar approach, sometimes even all at once. These strands include My Bloody Valentine's crashing 'wall of sound' feedback and The Smiths/U2 indie jangle, to post-punk's spiked riffs and The Sundays' waterfall-like guitar romps. Thrown into the mix are these spacey studio effects, somewhat reminiscent of 'Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots' by The Flaming Lips or latter period Stereolab. The hushed vocals are typical of any shoegaze band (Pale Saints, Chapterhouse, Ride) but if one were to narrow it down, generally very similar to the beckoning drone of MBV's 'Isn't Anything'. Visceral guitar scope combined with analog noodling, all overseen by the watchful eyes of the shoegaze gods. This is a heavenly guitar stew, intoxicating, a sharp bite to each ingredient, yet added in moderation to the pot. 'All Natural Lemon And Lime Flavors' is an exceptional work, an undiscovered gem...only to be discovered by you."