Disclaimer: This doesn’t count as a paragraph!

And neither does this but I wanted to explain: So the purpose of this new column is to feature artists that I think deserve the attention but are not necessarily my cup of tea. Like most posts within these hallowed digital walls, if it’s on here then it’s generally positive so the point of these is to A) Highlight some artists I might pass over because I can’t give them my full attention and B) Limit my words so the focus they get is direct and to the point.

So here goes:

Astronoid is the bee’s knees. According to most everyone I’ve encountered. But I think they’re just okay and, you know what? That’s fine, too. They do what they do well which is spacey, uplifting dream prog. Seriously, it’s like you’re soaring on a cloud and the sun never stops shining when you listen to a given Astronoid track. From the instant “A New Color” hits on Astronoid, that ray of sunshine is upon you and never lets up until Brett Boland utters his final lines in the prog-tastic “Ideal World”.

Matt St. Jean’s drums are frenetic and concise before sliding into a nice groove in that opener (Unrelated, I’d like to point out how cool it is that the drums for this album were recorded at Futura Sounds in Roslindale) which borders on power metal in the Dragonforce vein if Boland’s, ahem, Air-y (Get it? Because their last album was called Air?) voice didn’t immediately set Astronoid apart from that genre. Other highlights include another aural bashing from St. Jean on “I Dream In Lines” (And really, throughout all of Astronoid), the grimy crunch of the anthemic “I Wish I Was There While The Sun Set”, and the sheer technical ecstasy of “Breathe”.

Astronoid is out on February 1st through Blood Music. You can already order yours by clicking here or here. For the latest on Astronoid, including live dates, head here.