Aleutian

"Aleutian are what might have happened if Kurt Cobain lived out in the sticks and fronted the Bad Seeds, who'd just been commissioned to do the "Twin Peaks" music. Reverb saturates everything and the guitars sinuously writhe like desert creatures. The untitled outro instrumental shows a lot of promise, with its high end percussion and violin, although 'Frame Dragging' might have been better with a little more wigging out and a little less musicianship. Phil likes this band a lot -if this kind of Americana is your bag baby, you too will be wanting to contact them at PO Box 578396 Chicago IL. 60657 USA [sh]" -- Ptolemaic Terrascope

"Aleutian - Frame Dragging (-esque Records) Highly recommended. They milk the surreal American desert sound for all its worth. A weird selection of samples, ranging from Massive Attack to Mickey Hart to Aphex Twin, are listed in the liner notes, and they're blended impeccably into the sound - there's never a dull silence. The well-titled "The Dead Have Highways" is fascinatingly built around a popping loop, and what sounds like the desert night coming through the amplifier, while a drummer tries to find room. "Ghost In The Atom" sounds suitably haunted. Powerful openings." -- Donald Anderson, Space Age Bachelor

"Purple-hued overcast, shimmering stillness dreamstate. Wet plucks of guitar slide and ripple, the notes a visible mist delaying evaporation in the arid milieu. This is indeed the low cloud that drapes the skies, dispensing the virga that teases the scorches earth, hanging, falling slowly then disappearing just before it touches ground. A propulsive narrative of tom drums, carefully placed cymbals and subtle basslines inject gravity and direction into what would otherwise be a grand experiment in total weightlessness. The singer wears these stratospherics like a pillow. Soft, breathy and with a hint of gravel to his voice, his ghostly meditations hover amidst the gorgeous tranquillity. (-esque)." - Copper Press

"sometimes i think it is bands like aleutian that are the bands that i really love the most. haunting and dark, aleutian create a wonderous soundscape of textures that whisks one off to a quiet thoughtful place, a place where you can forget about whatever it is you need to forget about or to think about what it is you need to think about. yeah it's that good. while aleutian is based in chicago (transplanted from the east coast) you wouldn't believe that they weren't really some brit shoe-gazing band if you heard this disc in person. another splendid disc that i'm sure to use help me wind down at the end of the day. (pl)" -- Yahtzeen

"David Lynch, the director behind brilliantly bizarre creations such as the film “Lost Highway” and the television series “Twin Peaks,” is currently working on a G-rated movie. Presumably, this true story of a 73-year-old man’s epic journey to visit his brother will not be as dark and disturbing as his other works. But when Lynch returns to his trademark style, Aleutian’s “Frame Dragging” would be an ideal place for him to discover soundtrack material. This album’s music conjures Lynch-like images of abandoned roads, shady interactions and abject loneliness, but its lazy elegance makes “Frame Dragging” easy to enjoy despite the underlying somber tone. Although Aleutian employs numerous samples from artists such as Aphex Twin and Massive Attack, its music maintains an organic quality that many electronically-enhanced find difficult to achieve. Much of the credit for this accomplishment goes to singer/guitarist Brad Prenda, whose psychedelic guitar-work overpowers the ambient backdrops. The group’s dual drummers, Onur Birsen and Steve Dobkowski, interact to power Aleutian’s rhythmically unique choruses and counter-melodies. Because of the group’s complex song-structures and dreamy sound, songs such as “Madbury” can approach seven minutes in length without overstaying their welcome. Prenda’s effective but unobtrusive voice blends in with the music, making it easier for one track to flow into the next. At times, such as at the conclusion of “The American Hotel,” the music starts to drift, with Prenda’s guitar experimentation becoming more and more distant. Then, at the start of the next song, “Ghost in the Atom,” the group uses subtle swirling pop melodies to recapture the listener’s attention. Aleutian should attract the ears of a diverse group of music enthusiasts, with fans of Portishead, Pink Floyd and Sonic Youth all likely to be impressed by “Frame Dragging.” And if a copy of the album somehow finds its way to David Lynch, there’s a fair chance that he’d add his name to this list of admirers." -- Andrew, PitchWeekly

"...an intriguing CD full of dramatic, spacey guitar, drenching keyboards reminiscent of Pornography-era Cure, and haunted, violin-ridden vistas. 'Ghost in the Atom' persists in reminding me of an early Doors song mercifully ridden of Jim Morrison (both halves of this comparison are good things), and 'Siren on the Sea' seems to approach that hypothetical frame-dragged music in the way its backdrop of effects and samples overwhelm what's normally the musical foreground, producing a darkly glowing murky eye of sound." -- Jeff Norman, Milk #34

"Swirling, shimmering guitar that reminds me of early Cocteau Twins. The lyrics/singing makes me think of Tones on Tail or Love and Rockets first album. Some of my favorite groups, so I really enjoy this." --CJ, Spongey Monkey #8/#9

"Good things come in obscure packages. This group, formally known as Gluestick (yeah, no lightbulbs here either), have put together a bunch of long, atmospheric songs that have such a poignant drone to them it's impossible to escape their twanged hypnotic lure. Like some David Lynch film set as a speghetti Western, across great highways, sets the tone for these interesting compositions. Built around delayed, echoing guitars, and ultra slow, smooth rhythms, with some drifting texturous samples and quiet, raspy vocals, these Chicago dwellers have definitely opened my ears to something nice and original" -- Hanging Like a Hex

#12"ALEUTIAN - "Frame Dragging" (esque records) Released formerly under the name of Gluestick, Chicagos Aleutian has developed out of seven years of collaborative projects, and with more than a hint of David Lynch movies and ample use of one particular guitar effects pedal, they've succeeded in creating a world of constant twilight and shadows. The drums never stop, constantly circling, looking for new ways to pin the guitar to the wall. It's western psychedelic cowboy music but always clings to its roots, notably on "The Dead Have Highways" and "Mars On Way". The words never stick, thankfully, just drift by. Like Grant Lee Buffalo in the afterlife." -- Mark Hallett, DIW Magazine

"[Aleutian] succeed at finding its own sound, retaining a sort of earthy-rooted feel even when the group slowly reaches into the deepest corners of the night sky." -- CMJ New Music Report

"Few albums have endeared themselves to us in quite the way that this one, in particular has. Elements of Codeine and Galaxie 500 slip into the mix, but the sound is wholly original and vivid. Lush and rare, this is one of the best you never heard." -- Unwrapped.com

"ALEUTIAN-Frame Dragging (Esque) Dark and droney alternative rock from the windy city. The songs are almost dreary yet very attractive to the ears. Haunting gaunt and without apology they execute it and create the moody pop captured herein. KZ" --Stubble, issue #25

"Spend a night in a dark room with your headphones and get a taste of a true 90's band that will be going places with a sonic boom and ear shattering downpour." -- Slug Magazine

"Solid songwriting...peppered with imagery" -- Northeast Performer