GREGOR SAMSA
Untitled (Iodine Records)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

---

Gregor Samsa's Untitled EP offers a nibble at some of the most gorgeously dark and affecting music currently being played. Existing in the ether somewhere between the lush ambiance of the Cocteau Twins and Sigur Ros, this Richmond, VA five-piece creates taut songs that run the fence between pure mood abstraction and earnest instrumentation. Very few acts create a sound that is as explosive and mysterious as Gregor Samsa is this minute.

The three tracks have no titles, represented only by dots on the cover. Unburdened, they are free to soar and roam and intermingle seamlessly. The atmosphere on Untitled EP is effortless, engaging and thoroughly irresistible. With beautiful male and female vocal interplay, thundering percussion and spacey moments to connect the dots with, Gregor Samsa gives their listeners that rare license to curl up in a corner and examine the little bit of nightscape they paint. Ringing in at a tragically short 18 minutes, hitting the repeat button continuously may be our only saving grace until the band releases a full-length record to give us something new to ponder.

© 2002 - Erick Mertz