INDIAN LEDGE RECORDS, 2007
Birthed in Clifton Park, New York, barely legal quartet Alta Mira is out to impress with their first CD Fables and Fabrications. This semisweet, self-proclaimed indie group is much more than just your average boy band. Their debut album consists of five surprisingly well-produced songs that often recall a more vociferous Verve Pipe, or subtler Incubus. On “Cloud 8½,” singer Joe Michon-Huneau shows off his powerhouse pipes, while brothers Hunter and August Sagehorn complement each other on guitar and bass, taking you on a complicated daydream, where time just seems to stop.
Perhaps their most pungent track, “Apnea,” delivers delicate rock undertones and intoxicatingly intricate guitar riffs over high doses of superb singing. “Sifting Through the Dust” leads with a heavy drum intro by Tommy Krebs that gives way to an elaborate courtship between guitar and vocals as Michon-Huneau pleads, “I’ve never needed codependency / don’t give up on me / exiled, an effigy.” With tracks as assiduous as these, it won’t be long before Alta Mira makes world domination their destination.
This article appears in November 2007.
