Despite a number of personnel changes over the past year, head Astral-naut Dave Han and crew continue to produce some of the most transcendently spacey shoegazer rock the Bay Area has to offer. Astral’s new release is as dreamy and dripping with reverb as their debut full-length, Orchids (2003), and also contains the barest hints of the experimental noise the band has been bringing to their live shows. "Transmitter", the appropriately rockin track that launches the disc into the sonic stratosphere, ends with about 30 seconds of pure noise that I for one hope Astral finds a way to incorporate even more heavily into their sound. "In Circles" and "Yesterday's Calling" hit a decidedly more mellow and wistful rhythm, as if you’re now in orbit around the Earth and watching a star dying from billions of light years away. The final track, “Forbidden Kiss,” is a live rendition of Orchids’ closer that demonstrates the power and beauty of Astral’s live show.
The Transmitter EP is the first of a three-EP series the band plans to release; if Astral manages to capture even more of their current live persona with the subsequent installments of the series, it should be a blissful journey indeed.
