by Dean Wolfe, Prog dog Media [album released 2020]
Android Superstation, a four-piece indie band out of Orange County California, are brimming with potential as their 2020 debut disc "This Side of Nowhere" testifies.
This band leans toward the epic but paints with a broad palette and a wide stylistic diversity of influences evident from track to track, yet the album holds together well. It's sort of pop-punk (Blink 182) meets full-on rocking Muse meets soulful Pink Floyd meets occasional symphonic prog- thanks mostly to their exceptional keyboardist Heather Moore and her acoustic piano performances which provide many of the album's highlights (like at the end of 'After You' or throughout 'Collide'). Moore also sings lead, but sadly on only one song. Let's hope they spotlight her vocals on more tracks for their sophomore album.
Lead singer Danny Day Church excels in power pop vocals (and I love how easy it is to make out every word he is singing). I would love to hear even more of his softer side to balance out the one-volume dynamics of that genre. The slow track that finishes the album 'The Other Side' is a stand-out example, as well as the longest of their songs (at 8 minutes) 'Collide'.
A couple of the album's songwriting and performance high points are 'Fractured' and 'Alive' which demonstrates many of Android Superstation's diverse strengths in relatively short and focussed efforts.
'Through the Darkness', the only song with lead vocals sung by keyboardist Heather, has a chorus that really delivers, and features some great dissonant haunted piano lines recalling scary movies. I feel like more of these kind of tracks would serve the band well, with the great soft to loud dynamics.
More people need to know about Android Superstation. The band's website has some super cool comics worth checking out. They have a YouTube channel featuring recent performance of a strong new track called 'Human' which confirms they continue to forge forward with strong songs.
This is a very very impressive debut album for a young indie band out-of-the-gates, therefore Prog dog Scores it 3 1/2 bones out of 5 bones.
Thank you for this amazing review Dean, you're the best 👍
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