Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 08/24/1999
As part of
K's slight expansion from the release of purely
indie pop records, there are
the Microphones, whose
Don't Wake Me Up moves between gritty
lo-fi rock and droning, spacy constructions; a delicate
pop melodicism lies beneath the surface noise of both, putting the general aesthetic of the album somewhere close to
Stereolab's
Transient Random-Noise Bursts, or some of
Grandaddy's early work. The latter of the two approaches seems to fare better, with the songs' dramatic builds and careful composition rendering a sound that is a lot more artistically impressive than pure
rock -- but the fuller compositions are just as impressive, using their rampaging drums and the odd dichotomy between
lo-fi guitar noise and frail,
His Name Is Alive-style vocal presentation to approach something like an exaggerated
shoegaze effect. Above all,
Don't Wake Me Up offers a fascinating and involving set of sounds -- even in the rare moments when these sounds aren't organized as well as could be, they're still compelling.
~Nitsuh Abebe, All Music Guide