The title track comes first. "Attention Please" shows off the sound of the album. Built around a hypnotic and danceable bassline, angular guitars puncture the bass and drum groove, and they are surprisingly lacking in overt distortion. Guitarist "Wata" shows off her very soothing and ethereal voice. Very haunting vocal. Different, but "good different". "Hope" is next. Very heavily influenced by "Shoegaze" music, it even features Mellotron-like strings a la Smashing Pumpkins. My Bloody Valentine would be the reference point for this song, very fuzzy and distorted. The male-female harmonies also remind of said band. Despite being somewhat a rehash of MBV and other Shoegaze bands, I like Boris' take on the genre.
"Party Boy" is next. A heavily distorted bass shows Boris getting back to their old metal tricks. Electronics and effects add layers to the basic bass riff, over-top a cheap-sounding drum machine. The song is a little sparse for me, given the incredible noise that Boris are known for. Not bad, but somewhat boring. "See You Next Week" is very slow and dreary. Almost "Sigur Ros-like". A pulsating drum sound stutters over reverb-drenched guitars and white noise. Very sleepy and a tad too long, I nonetheless enjoyed the desolate isolation that the song produces. "Tokyo Wonder Land" is my favorite song off the album. Very dark and noisy, the song is a radical departure for Boris. The cheap sounding drum machine makes its return, and is somewhat distracting. But the song gets points for its very unconventional drumbeat, cracking and buzzing guitars, and funky bass. What a noise this song makes, incredible racket. As a side note, I saw Boris a few years ago and was amazed by the noise that they make live, almost unbearable, like MBV themselves.
"You" is another sleep-inducing song. Soothing and relaxing Wata agains begs us to fall asleep. But interjections of apocalyptic-sounding guitar atonality prevent total sleep. Frog-like background noises add a very creepy element, and disturbing effects and electronics are present throughout like dream-like song. Very interesting sounds, and it shows that Boris can really produce any sound that they want and are very adept at manipulating their instruments. "Aileron" is a very short instrumental acoustic guitar piece. Influenced by jazz and classical guitar, it is very beautiful and a nice break from the very noisy song before. Next. "Les Paul Custom '86" is the most similar song to the band's older material. Noisy without crushing your ear drums, it is very catchy at times. However, I find the drums distracting as they are often out of time with the other instruments. Boris have done this on other songs, and it is probably intentional, but it doesn't work for me on this song. But fuzzy guitars and bass make up for the odd and distorted drums, and I did enjoy this song. "Spoon" is again quite "Shoegaze" sounding. Drums pound with Jimmy Chamberlin-esque fervor. Very 1990s sounding, the song is hazy sounding and slightly reminiscent of both Shoegaze and late 1980s U.K. rock bands such as the Stone Roses. Very noisy, it is nevertheless quite gentle and beautiful. Like MBV, Boris can make a racket and feedback sound very warm and inviting. Last is "Hand In Hand". Another slow and dreamy song, again think "Sigur Ros" as the starting point for the sound of this song. A good song, but very slow and it does drag on somewhat.
Attention Please is something new for the band. Less metal and heavy rock, the album is certainly not as loud as many other albums. If you like Boris for their heaviness, this album probably won't be for you. But if you have a broad musical pallet and enjoy some of Boris' more electronic albums, this album should more than make you happy. A very different album, but a nice departure for an album. But, I would hate to see Boris making music this slow all the time.
Rating-7.5/10
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