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ShareIncandescent landscapes of drone and fuzz rise and subside, recalling the lulling, static lands of Spiritualized, the Cocteau Twins and Slowdive. Athens’ PacificUV, five years on from their debut and two years past an intermediary EP, stretches out in this second full-length, guitar tones left to float like dust motes in a sunny window, words stretched to codeine-furzed dreaminess in the cuts with vocals. Best here is “Need”, all luminous, intersecting guitar notes and whispery (Calla-ish) vocals, but “Tremolo” comes close, borrowing Carolyn Berk for slow-moving, angelic vocals a la Mazzy Star (or, more recently, Isobella). Soft, nostalgic piano, merged with wistful post-rock guitars in epic-length “Arson” make the connection to Mogwai, and the keyboards return, augmented with cello, in the limpid, lovely “Ljiv”. Still there’s not much “loud” in PacificUV’s loud-soft continuum. Instead, graceful, spacious grooves carve otherworldly spaces, cresting and falling but never blowing the walls out. They’re gorgeous spaces, though, if you’re in the mood for a daydream.
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