Laptop pop is all about synthetic drumming, cruising guitar, and various background blippage. Over the Atlantic is all about laptop pop. With soft vocals and a mellow techrock feel, the duo of Bevan Smith and Nik Brinkman create a night-time smoothness with their album Junica that’s as silky as the glow of a laptop screen and as light as the hollow, cubic foot of gadgetry itself.
It’s quick and gentle like a firefly. Dewy plucking combines with auroral synths and lullaby lyrics to make a chilled-out album capable of calming a flailing yeti.
Junica is a protected jaunt through indie pop dreamscapes. The level of intensity never strays above soothed, as if the breeze blowing through the bedroom window is part of the music. The opening track "Starsign" sets the mood with mousey, pattering drums and airy guitar over near-spoken verses. "Kevin Shields", presumably referring to the My Bloody Valentine guitarist, is a swarm of bees converging on a flowery field. The album sways between light, programmable pop and lush, analog guitar buzzes. Much like the country of the same name, "France" is dense fuzz, with airy vocals that only get intelligible at the end. Junica‘s range of calmness is passably complete.
The New Zealand landscape must provide a level of solace that our American strip mall existence needs to escape from, and in the form of Over the Atlantic, a respite from the power-pop and constant agendas is available. This brand of laptop pop is unpretentious and sincere, capable of both inspiring and relaxing. Like a little weekend vacation for your mind.
