a.s.o. - a.s.o. (aka Tornado Wallace and Alias Error)
LOW LYING RECORDS
Balearic / Folk / AORNew Vinyl LP / 26 EUR / Staff Picks
Dreamy mid ‘90s trip-pop reflux by Berlin-based A.S.O., the duo of Naarm’s Lewis Day aka Tornado Wallace and Alia Seror-O’Neill – toeing the finest line between ‘The Beach’ OST and chilled charmers somewhere between All Saints, Sneaker Pimps, Hydroplane, Hysterical Love Project, Dubstar, Spooncurve, Lana.
The duo’s self-titled debut album arrives after a tentative start in late ’22 with ‘Go On’, which opens this full length with a clear indication of their mood and influences. Alia’s opiated vocals are dry iced over a slurred amen break, setting up a faithfully downbeat sequence that sashays in the long shadow of ‘80s-into-‘90s styles that prevails over 2020’s imaginations.
They strike a fine seam of urbane ennui in ‘My Baby’s Got it out for Me’, knitting in wavy trills on ‘Rain Down’ and effortlessly glyding like Bullion & Laura Groves’ pop-not-slop on ‘Love In The Darkness’. There are clear echoes of Portishead’s uneasy listening on ‘True’, and the sort of stuff that recalls Aussie teen drama soundtracks via ‘The Beach’ score on ‘Falling Under’, with vintage touches of St. Etienne suss in ‘Thinking’ and a flyaway flourish ‘Somebody’ that wraps it up with a sugar-lipped kiss-off.
Strong, memorable stuff.