3 out of 5

Label: Digital download – bandcamp

Producer: Eric Broyhill

I… think that’s the artist name?  I think that’s the album title?  It’s in Hebrew, and so I’m piecing it together from whatever English is tied to the youtube / bandcamp pages.  And maybe it’s on a legit label.  I dunno.  Sometimes my research only takes me so far, okay?  Deal.

And how did I stumble across this… hm.  Eric Broyhill.  He worked on something I liked, but at the moment I can’t tell what.  Agent Ribbons?  It’s possible.  Dear me: thank you for being so full of answers today.

So.  We have an EP here, two songs where a guy sings, two songs where a girl sings, each song vaguely reminding me of something else.  Not in a derivative way – and it could be my mind just seeking connections since I can’t understand the lyrics – but the chord progressions, the peaceful vocals, the folky vibe – there’s something here that slots it into the “if you like this, you’ll like that” world.  Now that can further be broken down into first and second tier RIYL’s – first tier being the bands you remember, who you like more than the band off of which you’re basing the recommendation.  Second tier are when you’re reaching because you can only name one or two bands initially and you keep going to impress someone.  Matan is second tier; it isn’t the first reference that comes to mind.  Still, I was impressed with how composed this EP was in the sense that each song feels complete and consistent, not giving way to any kind of overkill or cheekiness.  Plus – sorry for  making assumptions, this being my first Israeli band – there’s nothing remotely cultural sounding about this beyond the language.  This is positive to me in that you can’t just pigeonhole them because you found it in the International section.  This fits in with Jetset, with WARM Records; it’s a very American sound.  While the tracks have a good sense of build to them, incorporating bridges and instrumentation to get to a good climax by the 3-minute mark, the songs do tend to just end, the only real mark of unprofessionalism to the gig.

Nothing special, but not boring, especially if you’re in to the shuffly, pretty folk thing.