Norma
1
Novoton
"Love no other" is one of the finest opening tracks an album has ever used as an inception point. An effortless blend of electronic, shoegaze, and post-rock influences - like a bastard child of some unholy union between Aerial, the Radio Dept., Ulrich Schnauss, and My Bloody Valentine - Norma's debut EP is astounding, a heralding cry of a band with the future wide open ahead of them. My only true complaint with this collection of songs is that fact that the ending of "The dark", before it is appreciated for what it is (which doesn't take long), feels like its building to an even heavier, thunderously devastating finale, and the abrupt close is a little abrasive at first - the drums come in for just that final bar... and then fade. In all seriousness, this grievance is extremely minor, and slips from your consciousness with repeated listening. "1" is the first collected recordings of an amazingly talented group of musicians, laden with youthful energy and confidence beyond their years, and, especially for an EP, worth investing in.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
