Tel Aviv is a record that dedicates itself entirely to one concept: presenting its stand-alone guitar washes as minimally and subliminally as the form allows. This hugely appealing approach to indie music is the central concept behind all of the band's work -- clear, ringing constructions of reverbed guitars (that could easily grow into lovely pop songs) drift in the spacious mix, never growing abstract never aiming at anything bigger than themselves. Later
Tel Aviv releases like
The Shape of Fiction add vocal presence and present themselves the way Unrest's mellowest tracks do -- and these releases are probably a more polished and accessible place to start listening -- but
Tel Aviv offers a definite purity, and establishes the core of the band's style with a great deal of skill. ~ Nitsuh Abebe