Lin Clover- Slumber

ARTIST: Lin Clover
ALBUM: Slumber
LABEL: JapanFiles.com
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-27-07

Released by JapanFiles.com to help promote Lin Clover's U.S. appearances, this CD collects several favorite tracks from the female-fronted rock trio's several albums and EPs. It's easy to imagine this taking off, too; Lin Clover mix an almost delicate pop sensibility with the sort of psychedelic heaviness of Smashing Pumpkins. True, the lyrics are in Japanese, but between Rammstein and Shakira, America's ready for multilingual rock music. The disc opens with "Empty," tempering thick guitar distortion with bittersweet drifting vocals, and "It," a more raggedly emotional selection backed by crashing cymbals. "Risou Decibel" is softer, with fuzzy wah-wah-drenched guitar chords and an airy art-pop sensibility faintly reminiscent of Stereolab, and "Kaijuu To Magician No Machi" starts off with a stony twang before building into a glorious crescendo of wailing guitars. Rather than the low-fi quirkiness that defines so much of today's alternative rock, Lin Clover's music has more of a '90s feel, like Lush, Catherine Wheel or even Sonic Youth, that manages to rock in a big way -- more suited to big amphitheaters than tiny clubs -- while still displaying flourishes of experimentalism, like the fuzzed out spaciness of "Misleading Shore" and the jazzy improvisation of outro "Never." Check this out if you're a fan of shoegaze and alternative rock; you don't have to know anything about the Japanese music scene to appreciate Lin Clover's big overdriven harmonies, and they're too good for the anime fans to keep all to themselves.

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