Atlanta native Ben Asbury penned the ten songs that make up his proper full-length debut while still in college, around the same time he founded the RTA Collective to release silk-screens and limited edition cassettes. He's a self-professed record collector and it wouldn't be a stretch to call his debut record collection rock.
The self-titled album marries sunny '60s psychedelia with analog synths under the guise of hooky, Flying Nun-indebted indie. But Asbury never elevates the material above his influences, and with artists like idiosyncratic labelmate Mac Demarco and Woods, whose frequent collaborator Jarvis Taveniere produced the album, mining similar territory with greater success, the album feels like an addendum rather than a singular artistic statement.
Asbury is a talented songwriter who has more than likely already moved past these songs, some of which are now several years old. There's enough here to suggest a breakthrough is coming, but Axxa/Abraxas isn't it.
(Captured Tracks)The self-titled album marries sunny '60s psychedelia with analog synths under the guise of hooky, Flying Nun-indebted indie. But Asbury never elevates the material above his influences, and with artists like idiosyncratic labelmate Mac Demarco and Woods, whose frequent collaborator Jarvis Taveniere produced the album, mining similar territory with greater success, the album feels like an addendum rather than a singular artistic statement.
Asbury is a talented songwriter who has more than likely already moved past these songs, some of which are now several years old. There's enough here to suggest a breakthrough is coming, but Axxa/Abraxas isn't it.
