(Vagrant Records)
Vagrant Records has a new band on its block with Audio Learning Center, and they are a far cry from any sort of Dashboard Confessional clone. Neither punk or emo, nor too melodic and dark for conventional post-punk, Audio Learning Center lives up to their name with their sophomore album .
Audio Learning Center transcends genres and decades with tracks holding volumes of throaty but melodic vocals that play over gritty guitar hooks. Creative, complex and haunting, is intriguingly inspired and leaves lasting impressions without overwhelming the listener. Each track changes the overall feel of the album by continuously offering new aural gems for the listener to absorb.
Opening piano/rock track \Waking Up with Eyes Still Closed"" is short and sweet. With gentle but twisting angst-driven vocals, the band announces it is ready for the audience's attention. ??
On ""The Neverwills,"" the listener is drawn to the pulsating opening lines of guitarist Steven Birch and well-executed droning lyrics of frontman Christopher Brady's emotionally charged vocals.
But standout on the album is the up-tempo ""In the Red."" Buoyant West Coast guitar lines are mixed with steady rhythms and depressive vocals. At the end, a piano ballad joins the lyrics to end with Brady openly admitting to his ""tears rolling down to bad piano parts.""
Apparent on is that Audio Learning Center's musical sophistication can be largely credited to their experienced roots. Hailing from the famed music scenes of Portland and Seattle in the early '90s, the band members were playing live long before Vagrant Records mates Saves the Day were learning bar chords. Both Birch and Brady were members of bands among the first signed to iconic West Coast label Sub-Pop Records (of Nirvana, Fugazi, Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden fame), while drummer Paul Johnson was a longtime musician in Portland.
In fine form, Audio Learning Center has a long artistic life on the horizon, reaching into unheard musical ingenuity that will most likely transpire into wide acceptance from music lovers of varying tastes and ages. A perfect album to listen to on repeat when all of life's questions are demanding a soundtrack, the band poses the answers to what would have transpired artistically if the northwest grunge movement hadn't burnt itself out post-Nirvana.
