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Rok Lok Records : Reviews
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Reviews for [RL87]
Orange Aurora "Dracula Coil"




  • Dots and Dashes
    Under the Orange Aurora nom de plume, Des Moines, Washington’s Eric Angal has been quietly contriving some quite spectacular ‘bedroom-fidelity pop songs’ as he puts it, both an eponymous EP and another, candidly entitled Collection 1, boasting oodles of ingenuity. But it’s his latest, Dracula Coil, which is far and away his most comprehensive yet: its six tracks symmetrical as shapes seen in a mirror warped by springtime sunshine, its final three serve as alternate takes on its first. And aurally, the lilting Lamp proves sun-blushed brilliance set to lo-fi insouciance. However, it’s right where this one begins that Angal truly excels, the softly coruscating Long Transition a tour de force trending in the sort of scintillating melodies that Dustin Payseur winkle picks from his brain as Beach Fossils. Swathed in autumnal shades, if lyrically unintelligible, then musically, Long Transition proves completely supreme.



  • Cassette Love
    Musical Content: Orange Aurora’s sound is described as “bedroom shoegaze,” due to the home recording technique and the dreamy guitar pop that they create. Dracula Coil is rich with reverb and guitar textures. The album’s pacing is deliberate and varied, never monotonous. The music harkens back to the early-90s releases from Teen Beat, namely Eggs and Unrest. It’s a refreshing sound that deserves reconsideration. Packaging and Sound Quality: This home-dubbed tape (in real time) has a nice tonality. The black-shelled tape contains minimal artwork that matches the striking cover. The full color J-card is numbered.



  • Raised By Gypsies
    Orange Aurora is an artist that I began listening to before this cassette was released on Rok Lok Records, yet I don’t think I actually listened to “Dracula Coil” before it was released on cassette because I didn’t want to ruin it. It’s always such a different experience to hear something for the first time on cassette as opposed to hearing it digitally and then hearing it again on cassette. Yes, I like listening to cassettes better, but it still somehow spoils it to hear the digital version first so I try to avoid that whenever possible. When you listen to Orange Aurora, especially on this cassette, there are three main factors that come out in the music, which makes the overall sound of it. The first you will most likely notice is that there is this dreamy quality to the music that is somewhere between The Cure and Aloha. It’s pop drum beats, tinny and something in a post genre but I’m not sure what it is post of exactly (hardcore, punk and maybe even metal could all apply if mixed together somehow) The next thing you might notice are the vocals, which offer something along the lines of Daniel Johnston but to me mostly come out like Craig Owens of Chiodos and I love that about them for obvious reasons. They have that nasally, high pitched sort of vibe to them, but it does ultimately remind me a lot of when Craig Owens was out doing his solo acoustic tour some years back. (Look it up on YouTube if you must, as there are a number of videos out there) The third thing you should probably take away from listening to Orange Aurora is that these songs are music heavy. They have vocals, sure, but they tend to lean more towards the side of being instrumental than having words and for that I also do enjoy them. Someone once asked me what the appropriate number of words was for a review. I think of that when I listen to this because it’s also a matter of what the appropriate number of words is for a song is: enough.