Aisles - 4:45 AM
With British and American bands dominating the UK rock scene its satisfyingly refreshing to hear from a band from a bit further afield. Combining elements of progressive, art and alternative rock with world music Chilean rockers Aisles are definitely worth checking out if you're looking for something new and away from the norm.
At a first glance at the track listing for 4:45 AM you'd be forgiven for thinking it might not quite be the jolliest album you've ever heard. It's not. But that doesn't mean it's not worth a listen. Title track 4.45 AM seems to have everything. A head nodding intro, guitar solos, a catchy chorus and so much energy it could almost be called a power ballad. It's the opening and probably best track on the album but this in fact appears to be a double edged sword and quite a blunt one at that. It truly is a good song, full of musical freshness but when listening to it you can't help feeling that Aisles have peaked too early, throwing everything into one great song with the rest all falling a bit short of the mark.
That's not to say the rest of the albums completely awful; it's certainly got some quite good points. The instrumental tracks, especially Hero and Gallarda Yarura show of the bands musical abilities. Shallow and Daft is pretty decent with obvious strong influence from 80s pop.
However the rather morbidly named Sorrow starts off sounding very promising with verses sounding reminiscent of The Smiths. It's the chorus which seems to really let this track down; it sounds too frantic and messy and sadly just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the song at all.
After taking over a year to record there's no denying 4:45 AM has originality and isn't quite like anything you've heard before. I doubt it'll be everyone's cup of tea and more of an acquired taste but something everyone should try at least once.