Yawn "Open Season" LP Review

Yawn "Open Season" LP

   I had the pleasure of catching Yawn live around October of last year when they opened a gig at The Social in Orlando. Needless to say, they put on quite a unique performance, playing songs the crowd could either dance to or just get lost inside the head high their synthesized swirls of psychedelia created. The first time I ever listened to them was about a year when I was tripping on a heavy dose of 2CI. I'd stumbled across their latest record “Open Season” never having heard of them before. The album first caught my attention due to the mesmerizing nature of its cover art. To me, it was symbolic of a traced figure that receded into a collective essence.

The record starts with a heavy pounding on the toms & a strange chanting. It then transitions into flowing  rivers of synthesized sound effects that seem to paint vibrant colors  that flood the walls of your imagination. The band's electronic dream pop style is quite similar to acts like the Animal Collective, yet they still retain a certain originality in their approach that distinguishes them from just being another shadow in their experimental genre.The lyrics are well synchronized with the music emanating a surreal layer of poetry over their colorful explosions of sound. Overall “Open Season” captures the animated aura of a hallucinogenic state overflowing with pools of a childlike bliss.  A feeling intensely absorbed through tracks like “Keep Up,” “Acid,” “Magician,” & “Indigo,” while flowing into a more melodious trance in songs such as “Astral Observatory,” “Sing Low,” & “Rainy Days.”  These guys are definitely a current band worth checking out for open minded individuals interested in experimental forms of music.