Aloha

That’s Your Fire (Polyvinyl)
by Tim Den

To say anything less than “amazing” about Aloha‘s full-length would be an understatement. Yeah, I liked their debut EP, but That’s Your Fire is beyond words. Take post-rock ala Tortoise and Trans Am, inject it with the unique, Midwest melody stylings of Braid and The Promise Ring, and Rush and King Crimson’s prog tendencies, Phish’s improv jams, Coltrane’s jazzy quirks, and a member whose full-time job is to create the most beautiful sounds out of vibraphones, triangles, and congas (sometimes sounding like National Geographic Discoveries).

Whew! What we’ve got here is one mad conglomerate of all the greatest influences from a wide-spectrum of music, coming together to form an elegant/unpredictable/ unique/intellectual entity that awes and challenges, song after song. Even as Aloha winds down and tinkers out some straight-forward tear-jerking piano ballads, you’re left with the sense that this band tests the limits and eats them for breakfast. And did you know they function solely on improvisation on stage (no set lists or anything)? Their ability to take that kinetic interaction and blend it with focused guidance and writing is exactly what makes Aloha’s hybrid of sounds, experimentations, and melodies so original and relevant. This is going to be a classic, without a doubt.(www.polyvinylrecords.com)