#878 Visual Transitions - Cape Cod

LocalMusicBoston disclosure: RJ Foley, the dude behind Visual Transitions, is a friend of mine and allaround good dude.

Here's an album of buzzy, nuanced progressive house with a geographical theme, sixteen songs leading you from the tip of the Cape, right around the coast, all the way on in to Buzzard's Bay. Fittingly, the music's more about head groove than hip groove, less about bodies rocking than giving you an endless Krauty pulse to drive to, coloring the floral and faunal passerbys, borderline ambient at times, The KLF's Chill Out via DFA.

The drive definitely has its particular blueprint: each song's built on the back of a shimmering loop or two, while the odd knob turn or fade-in gives the landscape subtle texture. The honest-to-god swerves are rare, but tantalizingly well-executed enough that you'll wish for more: Welfleet's breathless drop back in, Truro's breakopen moment, and Provincetown's slurred triplet stutters are standouts that set the bar mightily high for the rest of the album. While we're on the subject, Provincetown's a highlight in general, illustrating all the album's strengths, sporting a killer wobblesaw lead and ghostly emotional undertones.

The real problem is that the sound, while striking 3 or 4 tracks in, is too consistent by the end, the basic tones and tricks becoming familiar as soon as Orleans and blurring together by the time you've reached Sandwich. Sometimes the songs seem content to swirl around themselves without particularly imposing their will.

Its a fine line between riding the endless trancy path to transcendence and providing some landmarks along the way, and this felt more like a night drive than a day one by the end, headlights and reflectors whipping rhythmic and indistinguishable. That's arguably a strength, but the first half left me wanting more. Its not that the album should be shorter, but there's too little that's new on the second side. I wanted a few more glints of sun off of sea, a few more clearings popping with wildflowers.

Nonetheless - an impressive debut, with a well-defined voice and a careful ear for rhythm, tone, and flow. I'd be shocked if I didn't put this on next time I drive the cape 3.5/5