Sydbarret—no, not that Syd Barrett—released their sophomore disc, We Can See Inside Your Windows, late last month, following up their 2011 debut, The Swimmer. The group is a local act that hails from Central Jersey and is made up of several hardcore veterans from around the area.
The album takes time to experiment with different structures and sounds. All of the little things thrown into the mix are notable, like the soft drone of feedback that closes out “Shots,” and the pulsating electronic buzzing that opens “PS (Psycho Sebastian),” although it often doesn’t work in their favor. “In Tongues” finishes abruptly, offering no resolution within the song, which in context can be appreciated. However, it transitions into “In Somnis Sumus,” which consists mainly of an ominous but obnoxious (and unnecessarily heavily filtered) choir ringing in the background, which takes away from the interlude itself and wastes time on the already short disc. This bleeds into “Immortales,” which is otherwise a hard-hitting track that takes its time before hitting its full stride, complete with a satisfying breakdown in the latter half of the song. “Missing Hymn” serves as another interlude, although it is much more suiting for this record than the first, featuring a heavy but melodic bass and layered speaking vocals.
We Can See Inside Your Windows isn’t bad, though overall it fails to possess anything that makes it particularly stand out. There is a feeling that something is missing on the album, as if the message itself was rushed. Had it been a bit longer in length, maybe they would have been able to make the record feel more complete.
In A Word: Bland
