Review: Alarmist at Whelan's

Alarmist are definitely not a gateway drug to math-rock. They are at the cold face of of the equation. This Dublin based instrumental quartet owe a lot to modern orchestral music as well as their math rock peers. It came then as no surprise to discover that they are players in the Trinity Orchestra.  Who you may have seen at this years Forbidden Fruit festival. 

Indeed many of their compositions would probably wow a musicology professor due to the unusual time signatures and instrument hopping melody lines. But does your average gig goer or math rock enthusiast want the same things as a music professor. Probably not. More than likely they want to dance or jump around

Luckily for Alarmist songs such as Vitamin Saturday, offer up the goods to both gig goer and music professor alike. A juxtaposition of metallic sounds against Sigur Ros style minimalism set against sweeping jittery guitars and synths.  

The influence of Frank Zappa is audible on Giraffe Centre as the bass clarinet mixes with atmospheric synths and jittery guitar lines. All of this as with Zappa is held together by the bass. And while music professors will approve of the theory behind instrument hoping. The audience is visually stimulated with a will he, won't he, sense of suspense, at the execution of these melodies. 

Alarmist are definitely for fans of the Richter Collective's stable of acts such as Enemies and Bats.

http://alarmist.bandcamp.com/