Baklavaa – Dane On (Grimoire)
It's of no fault other than my own that I've never heard of Baklavaa before this record, however their name does go a long way in reminding me of the sorely missed Balaclavas, despite the band existing roughly around the same time period, Baklavaa having formed sometime in 2011. Can't hold that against them though, and after listening to Dane On, they certainly help in wiping my memory clean and jolting me back to the present with a grabbing style of melody infused noise-rock. While it may take some combing through the layers of distortion/fuzz, there is a bit more taking place here than the average aggro hammer-esque march, with songs that segue into walls of noisy, yet oddly pleasing melodies. I will admit, there is a very pronounced feel of an earlier Unwound influence here, especially on a song like “Gold Candier I”, which seems about as unabashedly channeled from the group as I've heard. But seeing as how Unwound was a vastly overlooked/underrated group as it is, I'm welcome to the idea of newer groups latching on to the formula that existed in some gray area between indie-rock and noise. Baklavaa seem to be working towards that magical sweet spot and appear to be getting rather close, as evidenced by Dane On. Baklavaa – Bad Filfth (stream) BUY IT
