Tideland - Lull

Sterling, VA's own Tideland have landed on the scene with their latest release titled Lull. The disc is a rich and elegant mixture of shoegaze rhythms mixed in with some high energy punk dynamics that go way back to their beginnings with the early formation of the group, and this effort definitely has some promise and a certain unheralded beauty to it that must be listened to at once.

We start things off with "Starblood" a mid-tempo, straightforward track that starts things off on the right foot, and presents the band's musical framework taking shape and the instrumentation does a great job of eloquently dictating the tempo at which they want to go moving forward. "Miless" amps up the melodic intensity quite a bit, and prevails in its attempt to create varying degrees of sonic wavelengths that permeate at such an angle that it creates a cavity where all the sounds rush through and shoot straight to the listener with pinpoint precision. My favorite track off the effort is "Get Lost" a rich, sonic delight with ample waves of instrumentation running aplenty at your feet and a strong musical chemistry, with a bond forming between the bandmates that lasts well throughout the duration of the album and beyond.

The second half opens up with "Desolate" that mixes in a somber, downtempo mood with some high energy punk bombast that presents the group in a much different light than before with intricate and soft-spoken rhythms that really speak to mind about the diversity of this band and their capabilities as individual musicians and what they bring to the table that contributes a great deal to the effort as a whole. "Dinosaur" takes in some elements from the preceding song and manages to bring the mood down somewhat that will illicit an emotional response from the listener and keep them tuned in all the way throughout as well.  "Edinburgh" gets us ready for the conclusion of the effort with a perfect balance of harmony and rhythm that shows what happens when musicians are completely honed in on only the task at hand to get them to where they are with regards to finishing up this album. "Way To Die" concludes matters here with some rich musical textures that takes us back to the beginning of the album, and we can quickly trace our path and see where we came from musically from that point and how the band's sound developed and flourished since then.

All in all, a sonically pleasing and fruitful effort heard here from Tideland, who have emerged as a formidable presence in the music scene and have conjured up something special for your ears that will make you believers of them in the long run moving forward.

                                                                                                                             Album Score: 4/5

Track Listing:

1. Starblood
2. Miless
3. Carved In Mine
4. Get Lost
5. Desolate
6. Dinosaur
7. Edinburgh
8. Way to Die