Tamaryn - The Waves

I enjoy The Waves because it takes me back to a time where shoegaze was at the forefront in modern rock music. Bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Chapterhouse and Slowdive set the standard for new music. Now that that that era has passed, Tamaryn has connected me back to these old sounds, and somehow made them new to me again.

Tamaryn is the point where the shoegaze sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive meet the vast and dark sound-scapes of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus. Tamrayn is not too dark, and it isn't too lush, The Waves shows us a new type of shoegaze that blends the best of both worlds together.

The Waves
This song opens pretty slow, but it does not take away from the song any. Right away, the guitar and bass duo create a wall of sound that slowly makes you float away. I guess this is where the title of this song comes from. The vocal delivery on this song and the whole album is just brilliant. The vocals are not too deep, but at the same time, they are not too glossy. The medium is just prefect. This song is just about five minutes long, but it really does not feel like that again. If a song usually begins like this, I can tell that it would be a good album.

Choirs of Winter
The second song opens slower, but it adds to the overall effect of the album. I personally like it when my shoegaze albums start off slow and continue to get slower. This song is just pretty. I love it. I can really hear the influence of other bands (particularly Chapterhouse, and Cocteau Twins.) This song fades right into the next one.

Love Fade
Love Fade picks the tempo of the album up again. I particularly like the guitars on this one, they go very well with the vocals. At this point, I'm pretty much done listening for meaning, because I can tell that this album is all about rhythm and pattern. Most shoegaze albums are like this, the lyrics are not that deep, but the delivery is what matters. Going back to the song, Love Fade is rather short, and ends abruptly. That is fine with me, the album flows quite well, and it does not take away from the album any.

Haze Interior
Haze Interior takes us back to the slower sounds of the beginning of the album. The opening is rather simple with a modulated guitar and a simple baseline that continues throughout the rest of the song. Haze Interior is a simple song, that just menders for three minutes.

Sandstone
Sandstone picks up the tempo of the album again. The loop that begins this song lasts for a minute or so, and then the main section of the song comes in, and the loop comes back. Listening to this song makes me want to spin around without stopping (trust me I tried it, it worked for a short while). The vocals are repetitive, but overall, they add to the character of this song.

Coral Flower
Coral Flower has a slow, droning, opening, but it sets the mood for the rest of the song. About a quarter way though, the song adds a perfectly placed wall of feedback that adds another layer to this song. Coral Flower sums up the theme and mood of this album, it has the patterns, wall of sound, airy vocals and delivery that I enjoy from this album.

Dawning
Dawning creates the opening that I associate with shoegaze. It is light, has the patterns, and the signature guitar sound. Dawning opens right away, and it does not take long to establish the mood of this song.
I really enjoy the vocals and lyrics on this song. They, along with the instrumentation makes me want to listen to this song nonstop. I really don't want this song to end. It just sounds that good.

Cascades
Cascades marks the return to the slower part of The Waves. Cascades has all of the essential parts that make up a shoegaze song; swirling and deep guitars, booming drums and a breathy vocal. This is the shortest song on the album. Because this song is so short I consider Cascades a opening to the next song, Mild Confusion.

Mild Confusion
This is the first Tamaryn song that I heard. I was impressed. I was simply sitting listening to internet radio, and what do you know, I heard shoegaze coming out of my speakers. At first, I thought that this was a song by Ride, or possibly Chapterhouse, but when I looked at the album artist, I was wrong. Mild Confusion simply proves that Tamaryn knows what they are doing when it comes to shoegaze. They even confused me, and that never happends. As for the insturmentation, this song is everything that you would expect from a shoegaze song, but for some reaso, it is just great. It might be because Tamaryn takes me back to a time where shoegaze was the new big thing in rock music.

Overall, The Waves is a great album, and if you haven't gotten it already, you should probally find a way to get it. I feel like this will be a classic shoegaze album in a few years or so. Also, this album is a pretty important bench mark for shoegaze revival or "nu-gaze".  Even if you don't pay attention to that, The Waves is a good album to bring in the start of Spring, or for enjoyment at any time of year.