Esquizet — Trivial Trivia (2019)

The year 2019 was rich with cool releases by Ukrainian performers, and when many of them were talked about by almost all domestic music media, some works were unjustly ignored by critics. One such album was the release of the Kyiv psychedelic band with a wonderful female vocal: Esquizet— "Trivial Trivia".

This is the band's first full-length album, with a timing of about 35 minutes. The band's previous studio works ("Ask Why" (EP, 2015) and "That's Why" (EP, 2016)) had a slightly different sound, it was a mix of 60s psychedelic with 90s grunge, decorated with pleasing female vocals and flirting with electronics. Although the aforementioned releases were in the tops of many Ukrainian music media, I personally lacked something – in the music was not felt some kind of personality and originality. It seemed like the musicians were searching for themselves for a long time or maybe they didn't even know exactly how they want to sound. But that was until the release of last year's release: "Trivial Trivia" is a serious step forward for a band that has its own character and has something to say to the world.

However, the new album sounds rather atypical for a modern rock release, which gives it a special charm. Even with the release of the first single, it was clear that the recording would be significantly different from the previous studio works and live performances of the band — at first it seems that we are listening to some lo-fi remix on already familiar songs. To get a clear idea of ​​what I am, compare these two versions of "Fast Lane":

And the whole thing is that work with the material was completely taken over by the musicians, so we don't hear the "standard rock sound". It was a bit of a risky and bold move, but at the same time, no professional sound engineer will not be able to record music as musicians hear it in their heads. We hear the sound as close as possible to what the band members wanted as a result (but judging from the different reviews — not all listeners expected that sound). Personally, I sometimes got the impression that this was not a recording of 2019 (and also of the Ukrainian band), but a digitized audio tape, which accidentally hit the flea market at the end of the last century, containing music of some little-known American band.

In a press release for the album Esquizet noted that there was a certain dilemma: focus on global issues in solving which, we are mostly powerless, or to plunge into your inner worlds to finally not to get off your mind, that is the concept of the album. The content of the texts does not lie on the surface and can be interpreted differently (or not interpreted at all), but if the listener concentrates on the important, then the main content will be able to find which for each will be their own, personal.

Take a look at Esquizet's "Trivial Trivia" album — it deserves a personal top-2019 spot. And it can be the perfect soundtrack for a small trip, even on our broken roads, because it is also a "trivial trivia" on which you should not focus all your attention so as not to miss the main thing. 

The opinions expressed in the reviews convey the views of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the position of Neformat.com.ua

Esquizet in social networks:

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/esquizet/trivial-trivia
https://soundcloud.com/esquizet/
https://www.facebook.com/esquizet
https://www.instagram.com/esquizet_band/