The Asteroid Shop, has recently released Distant Luxury, an EP follow-up to their debut full-length which came out last year. The now 5-member group reached the national spotlight with their first release and has now added some interesting elements to their second outing. On Distant Luxury, The Asteroid Shop has incorporated more elements into their typical wall-of-sound / ambient sound. You’ll still hear their My Bloody Valentine and Spiritualized influences, but you’ll also hear sonic elements not typical of these outfits. On “Hazy Love” and “Burn Out” female backing vocals (courtesy of Olivia Vale), fill out the sound and, throughout a few songs on the EP, synthy chords and melody lines bring a poppier feel to the record.
My favorite track off the EP is “Hazy Love.” With powerful drumming, a growling bass guitar part and a cacophonous crescendo, “Hazy Love” is a dramatic and a striking way to end the EP. On this track, The Asteroid Shop have teamed up with members of The Ghost Wolves. Carley Wolf, in a guest appearance, plays bass on this tune while Jonathan Konya aka Jonathan Wolf takes his normal seat at the drums. Jonathan seems to have been playing for The Asteroid Shop since close to its inception. With this project, he’s definitely brought a different style to his percussion than in The Ghost Wolves. In The Asteroid Shop, Jonathan fills up the sound with bombastic and dramatic drum parts while in The Ghost Wolves, Jonathan’s drumming is almost melodic or lyrical, frequent drum fills or solos pick up where vocals leave off and carry the songs.
The Asteroid Shop has paired up again with Erik Wofford producer/engineer who has recorded the likes of Explosions in the Sky and Grupo Fantasma. His experience seems to be a great match for The Asteroid Shop who combine ambient/post rock sonic elements with pieces from more traditional rock outfits. Eric Brendo, the leading force of The Asteroid Shop, has surrounded himself with very talented people that have allowed his songwriting to shimmer. We’re excited to hear what’s next from Eric and crew but for now we can enjoy “Hazy Love” and the rest of the Distant Luxury EP.
The Asteroid Shop’s Distant Luxury is available for download at Bandcamp. Check out their debut LP there too. To hear The Asteroid Shop live, head over to the Spider House / 29th Street Ballroom on Friday for the Psychedelic Light and Sound Festival. The show has an extensive lineup filled with some Ovrld faves including The Boxing Lesson and La Migra. Be sure to check it out, show starts at 4:15p and goes til 2:00a, all for the low low price of $5.
-Dan