OBLATION, SEASON OF MIST
Despite 12 years between albums, not much has changed for Floor. While Oblation hardly feels like the logical continuation of 2004’s Dove, Floor find themselves comfortably within the familiar, recalling 2002’s self-titled release. Replete with repetitious, dense riffs packed into gracefully brief song structures, Steve Brooks recalls his best Brian Wilson as he layers melodic vocals atop pop-sludge. Though not entirely dissimilar from his work with post-breakup band, Torche, Oblation captures much of the saccharine progression which flavoured releases like Songs for Singles and Meanderthal. Though it feels much like a Floor album through and through, Brooks’s more recent work looms large over the band and more often than not, Oblation sounds like a stripped-down Harmonicraft. While the band has produced an excellent Floor album, their ideas hint at much more than was delivered. Torche has unfortunately raised the bar so significantly for Floor that tracks like “The Key” only serve to remind us that Brooks has already outdone himself. While it isn’t terrible, it does feel somewhat unnecessary. Still, for those looking to see what all the fuss is about, there are certainly far worse things on which you can spend your money.
By Aaron J. Marko