reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » The Octopus Project - Hello Avalanche

This album is so much fun. An instrumental outfit from Austin, Texas, The Octopus Project have carved out quite a unique niche in the fuzzy ambience and tremolo picking of the post-rock genre. Hello Avalanche is the sonic equivalent of a sugar high, with upbeat keyboard melodies, solid live drumming, and guitars providing a crunchy rhythm. The spastic quality of this album is really epitomized in the songs, “Truck” and, “Mmaj” which may cause involuntary dancing—acceptable in the right situations and downright hazardous in others. Songs like “Bees Bein’ Strugglin’” offer a slightly subdued, more atmospheric jaunt through a happily psychedelic dreamscape. “Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella” and, “Ghost Moves” are both spectacular coagulations of the synth-pop style while maintaining heavier, darker overtones. The drumming on this album is fantastic. If you’re looking for something fun and refreshing, Hello Avalanche is thirteen tracks of audible happy. – Christian Crider