Angels & Airwaves - Stomping the Phantom Brake Pedal (2012)
Y'know, my thing with Angels & Airwaves is pretty lukewarm: There are moments, such as on "We Don't Need to Whisper" and "I-Empire" that I honestly think they're pretty brilliant for what they are, that being a band that merges alternative rock with spacey atmospheres and general feel-good "I just fell in love for the first time" vibes, but then they have moments where they play it too safely by the numbers and I start to lose interest, out of "Eh.. Haven't they done this before?" and even "Holy shit they've DEFINITELY done this before!" such as when I point out all of the times that Tom DeLonge has recycled "Everything's Magic" into multiple songs spread throughout the discography (at least to this point) like some clever secret that only the most dedicated fans would notice, or most likely just laziness or even memory loss. The point I'm getting at is that when this band is good, they're pretty fuckin' good, but when they rehash the same shit over and over, I get pissed because I know what they can and SHOULD be.
One thing I have to appreciate about these LOVEly bunch of guys is that when they want to, they can experiment quite well for what they are and what they attempt to achieve through their music. Prior to this EP, longtime drummer Adam 'Atom' Willard left and was replaced by Ilan Rubin, perhaps best known for having drummed on Paramore's 2013 self-titled album, a bit of material for Lostprophets (hope Ilan didn't catch the blunt end of the STICK!! Haha seriously though, fuck Ian Watkins), and most interestingly, for Nine Inch Nails. When you pull in someone with that amount of variety to their work, especially with experience in Nine Inch Nails, it'd be a fuckin' tragedy if they did nothing to expand on your sound, because if they didn't, why not get pretty much anyone else to play drums for you instead? That being said, thankfully, Ilan Rubin definitely gets his feet wet in the band, mainly with the help of guitarist David Kennedy (who LOVES himself some electronics!) as they help guide the band through previously uncharted territory for the first half of the EP: Post-rock.
Yes! You read that right, unless you have massive eye-floaters like I do and will eventually get cataracts, in which case, hey! That sucks. Now, if you DID read that right, hopefully without your caretaker's help, then know that I'm not fuckin' with you. It turns out that three of the songs on this EP were experimental left-overs from the "LOVE" part 1 and 2 sessions that they never put out, perhaps out of fear of breaking up the monotony on those albums. Now, they don't go balls-deep with it, mostly just a flirty wink towards the genre, but it's honestly pretty interesting and really encompasses, to me, the whole space-rock thing that they tried to nail down to the floors as being their signature sound on their debut album "We Don't Need to Whisper", but mostly instrumental. "Reel 1 (Diary)" is the most epic and post-rock-ish song out of the trio, clocking in with a hefty run-time of almost 8 minutes, and while it never quite explodes, so to speak, like one would generally hope for from the post-rock genre, it's a pretty epic build-up that almost serves as a warm message to fans of "Thanks for listening, but strap in tight, because here's the next chapter of the band." and is a sound I would LOVE (heh) to see them return to for a full-length album. There is a LOT of unexplored ground here that they could have an EPIC HOLIDAY on a SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY having an ADVENTURE on where EVERYTHING'S MAGIC an- Wait, shit!!
The other two songs influenced by post-rock and general electronic fuckery are "Reel 5 (New Blood)" and "Reel 6", making you wonder what happened to reels 2-4. "Reel 5 (New Blood)" almost gives me a "Kid A"-era Radiohead vibe at times, perhaps showing another influence of theirs (other than just U2 for a change) on their sleeves, but I don't have too much to say about it other than "Lotta interesting sounds in this'n, huh? That one sound sounds kinda weird, innit?" and then I remember that I'm not from New Zealand and shove the vegemite back into my pantry, not quite sure where I had even acquired it. "Reel 6" doesn't even sound like an Angels & Airwaves song, but more like a some kinda DJ thing, with an electronic bassline (no, not an electronic bass guitar, ya KNUCKLE DRAGGER) leading it for the most part until an electronic guitar riff comes crashing in and scares the shit out of you, partially out of how loud and sudden it is, but also being that "Holy shit, they didn't forget to include a RIFF in one of these songs again!" is always a good surprise when it comes to Angels & Airwaves albums.
And now we go into somethin' different for the band, but still not quite that great: Remixes. I love a good remix, y'know? The Fatboy Slim remix of "Body Movin'" by the Beastie Boys was my shit as a kid, and that opened my mind to remixes being more than DJ scratches and rewinding the music momentarily. That being said, the Beastie Boys in general blew and continue to blow my mind musically, so.. Anyway, when you get me tired enough, I just rant and rant and rant. The remixes on here are generally electronic-based and aren't really anything to scoff at, but still not much to pay attention to. I feel like Tom DeLonge's voice can sound awkward over them, to the point where I wish the remixes were actually instrumentals, so I don't have to hear Tom DeLonge sing melodies that were never even meant for that kind of music. However, the remix of "Young London" almost gives me a Beatles-esque vibe at times, which is welcome and I don't mind it, but again: It'd serve better as either an original song, or just instrumental.
This all being said, "Reel 1 (Diary)" and the Reels in general are good songs, and props to the band for exploring that and also entertaining the idea of remixes, but while they deserve respect for having the talent to work outside of their normal musical constraints, these feel like blueprints to something big they could do in the post-rock genre if they focused on one full-length album, sticking to a mostly instrumental side as opposed to having Tom DeLonge sing over it about love or whatever else. The remixes serve as blueprints for good musical ideas, but fall off when you realize "Huh, there was no real reason to remix these songs" and want the instrumental instead. Props given where props due, but unless you're a fan who's wanting to hear the band's take on post-rock and general electronic music, I'd pass.
6/10
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