Innaway : Innaway

Even though I tend to scoff at notions of superficiality, I must say that after one glimpse at the cover to this album, I just knew it was going be trippy. The way I see it, there must be someone spiking the water supply with narcotics in certain regions of California, due to all of the lava-lamp friendly music that has been coming out of the state as of late. Of course when you are a band such as Innaway, it is rather vital that you skip out of Orange County in order to branch out and away from the Victory Records fodder. In a nutshell, Hot Topic owns the county. But let’s talk about this bewildering quintet, who made their presence known in Costa Mesa. On their self titled debut album, Innaway have crafted an invigorating sound that merges post-rock sensibilities with an ambient, psychedelic craftsmanship.

“Threathawk” is a rather soothing composition with some rudimentary rustic qualities, courtesy of some harmonica placed alongside meandering shoegaze buzz. The aptly titled “Fall” sees drummer Gabe Palmer advance into a stream of hypnotic beats against layers of gently flowing feedback as “Follow Moon” shines with an avant-garde, acid-jazz ebb and razor-sharp keyboard licks. If you’re not astounded yet, you will be with the merger of the verdant demeanors and swanky beats in “Post FM.”

Innaway even have a knack for merging some tectonic riffs and air tight melodiousness. “The Strings of the North Egg” subsumes in florid harmonies that seep like an Brian Wilson combined with the late nite chill of Portishead. It’s not till the end of the song where the riffs make the atmosphere quake a little bit, amalgamating into a more doomy Black Sabbath aura in the beginning of “Rise.”

Innaway even shake their Kid A jitters with results that are pleasing to the ears. It can be on either “Tiny Brains” with docile pitter patter beats or the droning drum and bass experimentation in “Golden.” The latter may just end up in one of DJ Spooky’s record crates. Speaking of Radiohead, if “Fake Plastic Trees” had just the most minuscule hint of peppiness to it, it would sound a lot like “George Walker on Water.”

Not only does “Stolen Days” have a really cocky anthem like tone to it but manages to sum up the vibe of the album as well. Innaway is perfect listening for the unemployed, channel-surfing couch riders that are just about to make their way around to their midday hit from the homemade gravity bong. Oh, and everybody else will love it as well.

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The Cooper Temple Clause – Kick Up the Fire, And let the Flames Break Loose
Spiritualized – Lazer Guided Melodies
The Verve – A Northern Soul