Cassette Review // Whettman Chelmets "Giant Eyes & Infant Steps" (Girly Girl Musik)

$6 //
Edition of 20 //
https://girlygirlmusik.bandcamp.com/album/giant-eyes-infant-steps //

We begin with the changing of radio frequencies.   Some static and voices can be heard before dropping off into this darker place where squeaking comes through like the turning of a wheel and the tones drop like light falling from the sky.   It begins to turn into this ambient drone though, that ever-spinning of the hamster wheel still in place though, as we can feel lost on some distant, possibly unknown planet.     The sound shifts now into something more like the jungle, that sound of insects and such, and then guitar notes drive through one at a time as well.

The distortion begins to grow and this one is just slowly taking off.   There is a certain level of intensity here as this just climbs and there are beats within the background of it as well.   What could have been described as drone or ambient now feels like it is crawling out of an industrial hole.    This expanding and feeling of breaking free from chains and just sort of the metamorphosis from one sound to the next is how the first side comes to an end.

Winding tones open things up on the flip side.   There is that sense of a driving beat behind it all, though it is not as loud and present as sometimes it can be in other music.   Guitar notes come through once again to give off that FNL type of vibe.    It drops off into some heavy distortion and just goes back to feeling less like FNL and more like NIN.    Somehow this all transforms to where it feels like we're swirling around on that electronic carousel. 

This rhythm grows, stronger and stronger, to where it can almost reach levels of something out of "Run Lola Run" before fading off into the night.   Magical keys come in next and seem to take us to a far away place- not like space, but somewhere we can't even begin to imagine until we see it.    There are these sounds, vocals-like, within here as well which is quite interesting to add to it all. 

What I like about this cassette the most is the pacing.  It feels rather slow- almost like we're watching a movie and moving in slow motion- but there is still this energy to it that could motivate you to keep going.    How it maintains that balance between slow and fast, tired and energy, is really what makes the music itself feel so magical as it's relaxing and making you want to get up and move at the same time.