AD ASTRA PER ASPERA "Catapult Calypso" (Sonic Unyon) Review by Corey Schmidt
I'm guilty of overusing the word interesting in a lot of reviews. Sometimes it does a band justice and sometimes it might simply be used because it was "easy". Rest assured because there's finally an album that is best summed up as interesting: AD ASTRA PER ASPERA's debut album titled Catapult Calypso. From the band name and cover art alone, I had a feeling something crazy was going to be happening on Catapult Calypso, but did not expect it to be as diverse, unique, and enthralling as that of which it actually contains.
At first listen, AD ASTRA PER ASPERA immediately sound reminiscent of progressive, forward-thinking art-punk/post-punk bands like THE BLOOD BROTHERS, THE MARS VOLTA, and even THE FALL OF TROY. This is apparent from the opening notes of "Voodoo Economics" all the way through the song's hyper screamed/shouted ending that contains everything from clapping to distorted keys. So, from the start it sounds as if though AD ASTRA PER ASPERA is simply following a common trend. However, after this first song things get really interesting. "Post-Scarcity Sing-A-Long" is a mid-tempo, progressive-folk song, "Scatter Baby Spiders!" is a rambunctious and undoubtedly quirky piano-driven tune, "Nothing Else Is The Real Thing" is the album's craziest song with its out-of-this-world song-structure, and "Unnamed Acoustic Songs," because of its snake charmer vibe, seriously sounds like it was composed in India. The next trio of songs is where things get really good. "Glosbos Illuminatos," at nearly six-minutes in length, is AD ASTRA's pretentious side if they had one, "Everybody Let's Me Down" is as folky as they come with added hints of twang and string sections, and "A Fish Would Much Rather Swim" is a bizarre spectacle. In this one song, AD ASTRA manages to incorporate nearly all of their influences into an amazing performance. The entire length of it has a building drum rhythm that sounds as if though the song could break-out at any moment. When it does, the band goes into an all-out jam session that concludes the song on an amazing note.
AS ASTRA PER ASPERA are like a kid on Ritalin with nervous mood swings. At times, the medicine works and everything is calm and easy. At others, it's simply overcome by the sheer rowdiness of the kid. While this type of kid could cause someone massive headaches, AD ASTRA PER ASPERA do quite the opposite. Instead, they impress at any level of excitement or emotion. Catapult Calypso is in one word interesting, albeit in the up-most value of what the word represents when it comes to music.
