2 out of 5

Label: trace / untrace

Produced by: De Stevens and Richard Ley-Hamilton

Moody, quirky pop somewhat defeated by wishy-washy production.

New Zealand rockers Asta Rangu have an appealingly retro indie sound that wanders along an early Matador axis, but then moves that jangle into early 00s dream pop, further polishing the sound with a bit OKGo digital gloss. Given the moody, cinematic instrumental opener and riff-centric track that follows, it’s initially a good deal: while Richard Ley-Hamilton’s vocals are a bit too frail to make much impact, some weird imagery in the lyrics syncs with an off-kilter hook and a solid and appealing balance of precision and looseness in how the group plays. The next track (VIC) is where the OKGo vibes come in, but while the beat is solid, the more comparatively underwhelming and less quirky nature of the song – it’s a pop song – better expose the group’s lack of contrasts: the singing style doesn’t really emote; the words are a list of phrases or thoughts without conclusion; and the track introduces a sonic trend where more expressive or layered parts of tracks just aren’t played up enough by the band, or in the mix, allowing cool ideas to essentially go underutilized.

The sequencing keeps Entrtnmnt alive by pairing tracks with more direct hooks with comparatively subdued songs, but unfortunately, the whole end of the album is of the latter camp, including the closing title track which heats an exciting peak early on – suggesting something epic – before it ends up typifying, for nearly eight minutes, the album’s more middling moments.

Asta Rangu have a very appealing stew of indie pop ingredients, but Entrtnmnt provides them, mostly, in a ratio to one another that results in a bland taste.