Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Climax
Label: Self-released
Release: 2013
Length: 40:50
Rating: 3/5
»Kalejdoskop« is the ambitious debut from Ajdovščina art pop rock quintet Climax. These are well-schooled musicians who play their instruments brilliantly. They work in layers, in how they absorb and understand musical information, so their debut offers a charmingly varied set of songs in which the band slaloms deftly through the temptations of several genres.
The album has a really nice, dynamic and lively production, with the instruments laid out in a well-working balance. In places the sound is a little boxy, with the »snare« drum now and then »popping« out of the mix, but that’s a minor gripe.
And this is Climax’s basic challenge. A career one. Carving out the groove that paves the way to your own originality and a musical character that makes you recognizable – and that, as a rule, is supposed to win you hordes of music fans. I say as a rule. It doesn’t have to be hordes. Even the »loyal to the grave« devotion of a handful of them is enough.
Climax undoubtedly have potential. Part of the songs are sung in English, a smaller part in Slovenian. The English songs bring out the rocker accent, or rather they coax it out of the arrangements more effectively, while the Slovenian songs are far more convincing at delivering emotion. The band even tries its hand in ska waters (Sunshine Cocktail), sadly falling into the generic trap, and much more convincing among the English songs is the light, dreamy Oneway Ticket to the Moon, wrapped in a »Hawaiian breeze«.
The arrangements are boldly put together and the songs stand up perfectly credibly in that respect. Instrumentally, everything flows beautifully through the album. The problem shows up in how English is used. First, the awkward stress on words; second, awkwardly placed words in the verses, which doesn’t deliver the melody through the singing at its best, nor the full reach of the emotion. At the same time the vocal gets caught in a one-dimensional interpretation, with a feeling that more attention goes to singing the English correctly than to conveying feelings. Neither side is convincing. So in English, things simply don’t click. A typical example of a song Climax should have tried in Slovenian is the ambitiously conceived, lyrically deep and confessional Smoke And Mirrors. Its lead melodies certainly make it the special song of the album, but it’s clear the track would have caught fire even better with poetry written in Slovenian. Why? The answer lies in the next paragraph.
The use of the Slovenian language is the real opposite. This is where Climax should build. Only here does the vocal show its true strengths. The poetry in the verses carries much more weight, with a tangible story. At this point the music of Climax belongs straight on the rotation of Slovenian radio stations. The vocal behaves completely differently in the colors of the Slovenian language. Lively, dynamic, radiating an honest palette of emotion. And the musical backdrop around the vocal shines in full light! Even more: the vocal moves through many shades of interpretation when it works in Slovenian.
It’s heavy on my heart to write down some of these remarks, because you can feel the band approached the final product with a lot of attention to detail, with plenty of authorial love and care in the playing and the songwriting. The dialogue between guitars and keyboards is excellent, the bass guitar delivers a full dose of melodic nudging as a solid support for the drums, though it could perhaps be a touch more prominent in the mix. Climax know what they’re doing. Even if they naively, beginner-style »blew it« with the English, you can feel they have a big talent and big potential.
The songs Most v neznano, Kalejdoskop, Senca (Človek in zver) and Nov ep are the definite highlights of the album. Of the songs with English lyrics, the one that comes off best is Oneway Ticket to the Moon, where a guest female vocal rescues the »identity crisis«. In Senca (Človek in zver) Climax roar dramatically in a noisy dose of rock, and you’re taken in by the highly embodied compactness they create in this song. Compactness in the sense that the building blocks breathe fully in symbiosis. The verse and chorus work in just the right pairing, fueling each other’s atmosphere. The Hammond sound of the keyboards, as decoration, even adds a psychotic pinch to the song. Senca is the darkest creation on the album. But one of the best. Nov ep, placed right at the end, is also something special on the album. Calm, organically floating, it wins you over with a prominent lead melody that the band generates effectively by harmonizing the lead vocal, which is further proof that Climax have a refined sense for contrasting colors in their musical ideas.
Musically, as I said, Climax are multilayered. On the album they keep up a mild symbolism of pop sentiment with radio accessibility, and on top of that they add the occasional bigger or smaller noisiness of guitars that can dig into rocker territory, while the sheer prominence of the dialogue between piano and guitars hints now and then that the band can ride effectively in the direction of blending in elements of blues and even jazz.
So there’s plenty of starting points and the future looks bright for the band. With »Kalejdoskop« Climax have proven they carry exceptional creative ambition and big talent, or let’s rather say potential. They just have to decide where to go next. Settle on a fixed musical direction and start refining it into their own cohesive authorial language. And I suggest they make music in Slovenian. That’s where the real expressive power of their writing hides, and it will spark more and more captivatingly with years and experience. Good luck, guys!
Lineup
Luka Pregelj – vocals, guitar
Aljaž Petrič – rhythm guitar
Tomi Troha – keyboards, backing vocals
Bor Kavčič – bass guitar
Mitja Sajovic – drums, backing vocals
Production
Climax
Tracklist
1. Shopping Doll
2. Runaway
3. Sunshine Cocktail
4. Most v neznano
5. Wishes
6. Oneway Ticket to the Moon
7. Kalejdoskop
8. Senca (Človek in zver)
9. Smoke and Mirrors
10. Nov ep
