God's Reflex is a band that's been echoing within my subconscious for years. It started when reading online threads about bands that are underrated and didn't get their due, and I kept thinking: "ya, I should check this band out, that's an interesting band name at least", but this never happened. Lets be honest here, it's likely because something else caught my short attention span, with all the music to discover in this day and age. Then someone would post one of their songs online, like "How I Learned To Unwind", and I would be really into it, add the song to a playlist, and (still) don't check the band out! How many signs does a person need right? Well turns out three.
I met a buddy online, through a shared love of Del Paxton (read my blogpost here about them), and we started bestowing each other with music recommendations, since we both have great taste in music. Side note: take this statement as someone, who shares the same music taste as another, would. One of the bands they recommended was God's Reflex, and since their great music taste has been established, I gave the God's Reflex albums my actual full attention. The following thoughts below are a collaborative effort from both of us.
To begin my thoughts of Scenes From A Motel Seduction, I'm going to quote a person (from Rate Your Music) their description of this album: "Remembering days yet to happen". This quote especially hit a cord with me because I could have had years of memories listening to this album, maybe while walking through a rural town on a rainy day or driving in the middle of the night with just the music to keep me company, but they have yet to happen now. This sentiment also describes the feel of the album well.
Let's start off with what you will be drawn to first, the album art. It's a simple photo of a motel, with a lower case font stuck in the corner. It sets the atheistic and idea of what the listener is about to experience. It's an old forgotten motel that you've likely been to before, or have driven past, and can right away feel what type of stories are about to be told.
The lyrics are descriptive but only provide snippets of an event. The feelings are there, but the memories are not full bodied. Did they actually happen? Are they reliable? Does it matter when the feelings are real? There's certain imagery that makes its way through the songs: reflections, the rain, hands, shadows. This ties the scenes of the album together in a coherent way, through all the disjointed memory clips (at this old run down motel). Tie all this in with the intricate glimmering guitars, background vocals, and hard hitting punk to soft sprawling indie sounds; you have the right atmosphere created to set the stage.
It's this kind of craftsmanship of an album that sets a band apart from others. Each song draws you deeper into the vague, yet intriguing, story. The vagueness allows the listener to insert themselves into the scenes, from something real...or a memory yet to happen.
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Highlighted song and lyrics:
Mayday- " Every time i stand corrected, I realize that I've stood here my whole life"
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Similar bands to check out:
Bats and Mice, The Paper Champions, Slowride, Angels In The Architecture
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Reviews and links to check out:
Altpress.com- Bands That Time Forgot: Gods Reflex
Chicagoreader.com- Cool part about God's Reflex at the end of the article
