Airiel
Press
"The Battle of Sealand" - NME
April 21, 2008
The finest....strike that, the ONLY album ever about the weird,
quasi-autonomous principality off the coast of Suffolk comes courtesy of
these cult Chicagoan shoegazers.
"The Battle of Sealand" - Amateur Chemist
March 30, 2008
I had heard that Airiel used some an assortment of Death By Audio Pedals in their twin guitar assault so I had high expectations in the guitar tone department. Airiel exceeded these expectations with a sonic wall of sound as expansive as the Great Wall of China. Airiel recently released their album "The Battle of Sealand" which soared into constant rotation on my ipod after seeing their set. Airiel is led by Jeremy Wrenn (Vocals/Guitars) who has a characteristic vocal delivery somewhere in between Ken Andrews of Failure and Stephen Brodsky of Cave-In(Antenna era). Airiel started off with a rocket blast of "Thinktank" which had moments of Year Of The Rabbit, Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine which immediately appealed to my ears. "You Kids Should Know Better" was another canon blast of soaring guitars and sonic acrobatics as Jeremy unleashed a tidal wave wah drenched solo. It immediately made sense that Ulrich Schnauss made a guest appearance on their album for the track "Sugar Crystals" adding his vast soundscape magic.
"The Battle of Sealand" - New City Chicago
March 5, 2008
After releasing a series of EPs since its 1997 inception, Bridgeport band Airiel released its first full-length record at the end of last summer, called "The Battle of Sealand," named after the micronation. (In fact, for the band's contribution to the culture of Sealand, rumors have been flying that it will be the first to play on the land. Band founder Jeremy Wrenn notes that "It might happen.") The band's shoegazer revivalist sound recalls the work of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Ride, but perhaps even more ethereal than those acts, if you can imagine that (they even got German electronic artist Ulrich Schnauss to guest on the record)." - Tom Lynch
