Sometimes in my musical travels I come across songs that really capture my attention right away. Whether it being innovative sounds or just a melody that sticks in my head, I get hooked. But what really irks me is when I try to dive in to get more information about the artist and can’t seem to find anything. If an artist wants to get their music noticed, it takes more than just quality songs nowadays. You must create an image. Hopefully we can inspire our latest find Randy Ichinose. (I will admit the album cover did catch my attention.)
The solo project from Italy is a mix of dark grunge and shoegaze with touches of metal mixed in to really push the songs to their limit. We were recently sent the EP All Pilots At The Ready. The 4 track record has an eerie feel of rocking out in a dark dungeon. The first track ‘Avalon Is Dead’ has a crunchy and fuzzy guitar line that pushes it forward while a monotonous drum beat carries the listener along. The song ‘Stars’ follows the same pattern but adds a little more of a shoegaze vibe as the vocals seem mellow but after 2 minutes into the song get aggressive and the guitar tone is changed to add an element of surprise. Closing song ‘Not To Be Taken Away’ features more lyrics and more of a story to follow while guitars grind and crash in the background. The album makes for an interesting listen, lets hope we can inspire Randy to expand his web presence. Go get sucked in to the music for yourself at: http://randyichinose.bandcamp.com/album/all-pilots-at-the-ready
