Pop dreamscapes and the emotional weight of relationships: Silt by Atta Boy
Written by Mona Montella
Silt is the fourth album by LA-based indie rock band Atta Boy, and their most experimental and somber effort to date. This album is rife with natural imagery, something that already characterises their previous work, but this time these images are coated with a newfound darkness. It explores a wide range of feelings, from the bitterness and pain expressed in ‘Scratch’ to the more hopeful, poetic, and abstract songs like ‘Oh Mama’ and ‘Pale Blue Sky’. This dream-pop indie rock hybrid signals a significant growth for the band, both musically and lyrically.
From a production standpoint, the album’s strongest asset is Freddy Reish’s guitar work, which experiments with dark, metallic distortions, violin-like chords, and gentle folk tunes. It goes from overpowering Eden Brolin’s vocals, with the chorus of ‘1st Street Bridge’ sounding nearly instrumental, to harmonising with her and accompanying the extraordinary voice work in the softer songs, like ‘Oh Mama’. ‘Scratch’ is perhaps the most interesting tune of this album. The eerie-sounding guitar complements the cynical and tormented lyrics, lending the song a haunting quality. On the first listen, the track stands out as the moment that takes them further away from their previous work. The rhythm section also comes in with some noticeable drum moments in songs like ‘Full Cloud’, which is possibly the most rhythm-driven, or ‘I Could Keep It’, which closes on a powerful drum passage.
The album explores the full spectrum of emotional weights, shifting from hopefulness to cynicism. It goes from narrating through sorrowful lyrics to the softness of some of the later tracks. It is also sonically diverse, with ballad-like songs, dreamy folk tunes with soft natural imagery (the trio ‘Silt’, ‘Oh Mama’, ‘Haven’t Yet’ which remains closest to their early work), to the rockier and louder sounds of ‘Can’t Hardly’, a song with incredible live potential and allows each member of the band to showcase their energy.
Silt is sonically and emotionally diverse, while still managing to be cohesive. Something that characterises all of Atta Boy’s albums. All their music has this quality, where each tune fits well with the previous one and the whole discography is a linear progression, showing that the band is, in fact, curating a specific style and texture. Atta Boy’s work all belongs to this same universe that the band has created. In Silt, they juggle experimentation, abstraction, pain, and hopefulness. Even without major studio infrastructure, they show that independent artists can still create amazing work if they invest in their own signature style. There is hope to see more of this band in the future, and that this album will lead them to a wider audience outside their niche online following.
