Listening to the 6s & 7s’ debut album Choose The Sentinel Blooze feels a bit like you’re wandering aimlessly through a music festival. You hear an interesting band echoing somewhere in the distance and want to go in for a closer look, but somehow no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem get quite close enough to hear the band properly. I felt somewhat conflicted reviewing this album, because while there is little to fault with the actual material, poor production diminishes much of its full impact.

The brainchild of Perth songwriter Josh Fontaine, who has built up quite a reputation over the last decade, 6s & 7s produce dreamy, lushly layered indie pop akin to The Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene or The Sleepy Jackson. There is no doubt in my mind that their lo-fi approach was intentional. This dynamic may work well for more stripped back acts, but with the 6s & 7s ambitious instrumentation and rich arrangements, a lot of the subtleties and layers get buried under an impenetrable wall of ambience. “International Roaming Capability” has an uplifting cinematic jazz quality similar to Mr Bungle’s “California”. But while Mr Bungle’s crystalline production makes you feel like you’re soaring high above the clouds, with the 6s & 7s you never feel quite enveloped by the music and as a result you never feel like it takes on the journey that it should.

It’s a real shame because there are some excellent songs on this album. “Smilin’” and “Kissing for Science” would sit nicely along anything off The Arcade Fire’s “Neon Bible”. “(Yr) Fucking Nights” brings to mind the dark, unnerving quality of fellow Perthians Snowman in their more subdued moments. In fact there is barely a weak track on this album, except perhaps “Holidayz”- a pretty standard, boppy indie rock affair sure to be snapped up by Triple J.

The highlight for me would definitely have to be “You Will Think Of Me” which opens with an epic art-rock guitar riff that would make And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead proud, before going into a banjo breakdown complete with cheerfully whimsical whistling- just brilliant. The problem is that when the introductory riff is reintroduced for what should be the soaring climax the production once again prevents it from reaching the epic heights it should. The percussion throughout the album is far too buried in the mix to give the songs any real drive. The same can be said for the vocals which are so laden with reverb and delay, 90% of the lyrics are undecipherable. It’s obvious that Josh Fontaine is a very good singer. He really doesn’t need to put so much effect on his voice and shouldn’t be afraid to strip it back at times as his singing could easily hold its own under closer scrutiny.

Consensus: “Choose The Sentinel Blooze” is a damn near perfect indie pop album, but unfortunately it gets mired by poor production and ultimately doesn’t live up to its full potential. A bit more clarity in the mix could really have made this album something special.

Review Score: 6.5/10