Hailing from Norway, land of the very like-minded Serena-Maneesh, Maribel craft a gorgeous blend of trip-out shoegaze on their debut Aesthetics (the album was even co-produced by S-M s Emil Nikolaisen). Maribel certainly aren t ashamed to proudly wear their influences on their collective sleeve. But they also give an ass-kicking retro-modern update to them all. Flesh and Blood recalls the halcyon days of early Boo Radleys. Deflowers kicks off with a dead-on ape of MBV s Soon , then immediately gives way to a sound extremely-reminiscent of those gaziest Telescopes EPs. Siamese Eyes and Spit Voyage cull from baggy Manchester-cum-Spacemen 3 blues style jams either could be an outtake from recent albums by the UK s The Voices. Virtually all the tracks on Aesthetics hover around the 3-and-a-half-minute mark perfect pop songs awash in feedback, distortion, gauzy boy/girl vocals and layers upon layers upon layers of sound. The album builds upon itself perfectly, sucking you in slowly and then taking off into a blistering orbit with the middle chunk of the album standing out as some of the best tracks from the genre this decade. Equally perfect for closing your eyes and blissing-out to, or dancing your ass off at the club. --Dan Sostrom, Clairecords