9

Distorted folk-pop

Former Port O'Brien front man Van Pierszalowski has put together a decent debut album for his new solo project WATERS. Using plenty of grungy fuzz and distortion on the guitars to give his catchy folk edged melodies some backbone and with his emotive and slightly ethereal vocals providing a focal point for all the tracks he creates quite a distinctive noise.

The album's opener provides a really strong start; with drums pounding away and that distortion laid over everything, it's a real sing along anthem and one of the best tracks on the record along with the super fuzz-laden pop song 'Back To You' and the open echoes and memorable melody of 'San Francisco'. Van sets about mixing things up nicely while keeping a unified tone throughout with more gently fuzzy (yet still melodic) offerings such as 'O Holy Break Of Day' and then taking things right down to basics with quiet echoes of piano and guitar on tracks like 'Ones You Had Before' (reminiscent of Turin Brakes); nicely unfussy production from John Congleton helps to unify the tone of the record and gives a lovely raw edge.

The mix of melodic folk-pop anthems, grungy distortion and stark, moody atmospherics is good and the album flows well. However, (even though Pierszalowski is obviously invested fully in the experience of producing these songs), for some reason this reviewer never felt truly, emotionally connected to the record, didn't break out in goosebumps or get lost in the moment. Perhaps the tracks don't build to epic enough highs or descend to stark and dreamy enough minimalism to wrap you in their emotional heart, so as a result it is a sweet distraction but not a keeper.