Album Details

• Artist: A'tris
• Album: Lensing
• Label: Mark
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-04-18

Media

How many of you bothered to check out "Of The Commons", the Atris EP that I fell in love with and reviewed here awhile back? It's okay if you didn't, I'm glad I haven't missed out on this diamond in the rough. Out of the Boston area, Atris play a multi-textured blend of alt and pop rock, walking a fine line between experimentation and formulation. I can never find a band that can closely compare, but if you take elements from Radiohead, 30STM, and a host of indie rockers, you'll come somewhere close to their sound. Lensing is the first full-length I've heard from the band. It contains several tracks from their previous EP, and was just recently released through Offensive Tie Publishing (BMI).

Unquestionably, the first half of Lensing is the greater half, with opener "Paradise is a Boxcar" and their best choice of "Of The Commons" hold-overs to appear here, "Selling Oxygen" creating a nice pace right off the bat. Mason Taylor's vocals continue to amaze me, as emotive and punchy as any you'll hear. The lyrics have evolved from personal to more universal themes, and the album as a whole seems to have a continuing idea of American woes and world-wide crisis. The quote on the cover of the album, "I am so afraid of war - movies" (with the word "movies" crossed out) hints at this as well. The song that really gets me going the most is "Automatic Doors", which features by far the coolest and catchiest riff they've penned to date. 

The rest of the album is really hit or miss. Why I think this is, for me, is because I was taken by surprise with their EP; this time around, they weren't given such a platform. Some songs, especially the rest of the tracks culled from "Of The Commons", are either decent or sound out of place, missing something. On the whole "Lensing" feels just a bit rushed, or perhaps over-saturated. It should be noted that these complaints are minor, as the album overall is excellent, really one of the better alt-rock records you're likely to hear this year. My disappointment is real, but I love it more than I don't. These guys have "future superstars" written all over them, and I'll be enjoying this album over and over until they're ready to push the envelope a little further. 

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