GLISS
Kick In Your Heart (Mountain Lo-Fi Recordings)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

It was love at first listen. I'm a confessed sucker for strong shoegazer or psych music, so if you find me a talented band riding the line between those two, I just get all mushy and I start making my friends listen to the CD at every opportunity. That's where I am with Gliss, a Los Angeles trio dedicated to a truly powerful soundscape. Martin Klingman and David Reiss layer guitar textures over hypnotic drums, Klingman's voice not singing so much as emoting, sometimes sounding as if he's struggling through a haze. All of this is flows on a massive river of bass provided by Victoria Cecilia, who both plays it and programs it. The tempo is decidedly down the whole way here, which is just a little surprising, only because I came across a five song EP last month which had some crossover with the tracks on this disc, and there were a few jumpin' tunes there. As that wasn't an official release, perhaps it was decided to keep this one consistent in feel. If you happen to find an EP called Halfway Gone, pick it up. Not only does it add a few tracks to this fine EP, it's a cool little rarity for the collection. If you knew just what I meant about that perfect place between shoegazer and psych, you're gonna be all over Gliss.

© 2005 - DJ Johnson