Errors - It’s Not Something But It Is Like Whatever

With a front cover like a Shins album, a minimalist name more appropriate for the current swath of nu-ravers, and a title to make Godspeed You! Black Emperor jealous, it’s hard to decipher quite the direction Errors want to take. But we’re judging on appearance here, something we remember our Mother telling us not to do. Unfortunately, after a couple of listens to their debut album, it’s still not quite clear where they stand in the ever so vast spectrum of atmospheric lyric-less instrumental soundscapes…even though said spectrum is pretty tiny.

Errors make two mistakes. Well perhaps ‘mistake’ is too strong a word, but they do two things which you’d rather they didn’t do. The first is they add a rather uninspiring electro beat to nearly every song. The second is they don’t quite grasp the edges of epic-ness which would launch them into the same stratosphere of other instrumental heavyweights such as Sigur Ros or Fly Pan Am. The title track ‘Dance Music’ does what it says on the tin, with a tomandandy style twist to your average electronic beat. It doesn’t venture into particularly original territory though, something which makes the former duo stand out. For all the occasional crashing cymbals and tension in the guitar riffs, it doesn’t build to a climactic finish like any of the Constellation label alumni, but rather totters annoyingly around complicated spiky interludes from the main piece.

‘Crystal Maze’ is a calmer peek into what Errors could create if they weren’t so confused about what genre they fit best into. It is slow burning and slightly wrought, which creates a lovely atmosphere. But immediately after, we stumble into ‘Cutlery Draw’, which is an experimental computerised track with irritating and pointless spoken lyrics. The final track, ‘A Lot Of The Things You Don’t Isn’t’, is another glimpse of hope for what Errors are capable of. It is another calming and well paced delicacy. That’s not to say they can’t play experimental rock well, as ‘Salut! France’ sounds similar to the fantastic seriousness of M83.

Errors have glimmering moments of chillout electro which are clouded by lacklustre computer noises or unrefined attempts at epic math rock. Their influences are worn on their sleeve, and reasons as to why you would choose Errors over the Real McCoy are hard to find. It is surprising though to hear promise buried within this album, it is just waiting to be peeled back, underneath the layers of faux nu rave facade. Errors aren’t yet something, but they’re definitely not like whatever.