Our shared reality knows some things to be true; when it’s raining you get wet, the sun is hot, and guitar sounds like a guitar. But the abhorrence of traditional values and exploration outside this shared reality will show that musical timbres aren’t always what they seem to be, and things that may be obvious on the outside can often reveal new secret tonalities.
It’s the lines between where Charms straddle their success as neither a pop band nor a noise group. When you look at them on a stage you’ll see keys, guitar, drums and a mic, and for a while you may effectively be duped into thinking that this is just another rock band. But when Eleazer spins on his heals and engages his rainbow machine pedal, things suddenly turn into a baffling display of sonic mastery. Josh oscillates his synths into a noisy rhythmic beat and Ray commands a small avalanche behind the drums, enforcing a sonic mood that is reminiscent of Mission of Burma’s noisy brand of post punk.
But it’s not all chaos and noise; underneath the obscured and effected timbres lays the pop tones of Metal Box, or even The Wipers. Eleazer and the boys have harnessed a knack for writing indelible hooks that are bent on the political climates and dystopian love affairs that only a synth could describe. Using volume as a great uniter to push forward Eleazer’s Johnny rotten-esque croons, Charms will certainly put the hex on you and your ears as you are helplessly overcome in a freakish post punk fantasy.