Forming an emotional bond through a sonic experience often sits upon the shoulders of extreme feelings such as anger, fear, or love. Swiss rockers LAST LEAF DOWN debut their entrancing and hypnotic retro ambient rock with the album "Fake Lights" via Lifeforce Records. The quartet's 13 song freshman release kicks the tires on the time machine with the destination set for the 80s aiming for a resurgence of shoegaze glory.

On first listen it is hard to believe that there is no band member dedicated to keyboards or synths because the atmospheric pressure is thick and heavy. Benjamin Schenk's vocals entrench the mix and battle for dominance with waves of guitar layers. Production is done well however there are instances when the band's crescendos are drowned by the synthetic wall of emotion. It does well to establish a connection with the listener but this tool is used far too often in place of diversity in sound.

There is a dedicated target of sound within the 13 song offering centered on recreating a popular resonance from the past and indeed many of the songs land on the mark. "The Thought That I Saw You" could be pulled from an 80's cassette mix tape and be considered a chart topper. The bottleneck that occurs for LAST LEAF DOWN when revamping an aged arrangement is that it polarizes the listener who more than likely either loves it or hates. Truly it was enthralling and nostalgic to hear a sound from the past but after the nostalgia wore off it left me wanting more from the structuring and technicality. There is just not much if any inventiveness or ingenuity within "Fake Lights" which follows the old adage that if it isn't broken there's no need to fix it. However, sonically it leads the listener down a well-worn path that becomes easily redundant.

There is a lot good angsty fun to be had listening to "Fake Lights" and LAST LEAF DOWN's future bodes well in a time when fans ache for a sound of days gone by. It will be interesting to hear a sophomore release and the direction the band takes.