German space rock quartet
Brace/Choir toiled long and hard on their sound, letting it gestate for years before releasing a brief self-titled EP in 2010 and spending years after that perfecting the eight songs on their stunning proper debut, 2014's
Turning on Your Double. Though the four members switch instruments and vocal duties on almost every song, the album holds on to a striking continuity, with each trance-inducing track melting into the next. Washed-out guitar tones echo the best of shoegaze legends like
Ride and
the Boo Radleys while shadowy organ drones support many of the tracks, recalling the best of the early Kranky Records space rock roster. Along with these dreamier influences,
Brace/Choir also manage to break into Krautrock grooves as obtuse as
Faust at their funkiest, or as pulsing as
Stereolab. ~ Fred Thomas