Moderate Rock

There are times when this, the second EP from Swedish quintet Look, Orion!, points truly skywards, post-rock without a hint of sluggishness or schmaltz, a soundtrack to the stars. And then there are times when it simply struggles to lift off, any jet fuel force undone by staid riffs and too many pretty notes without real power. So if ‘Contours’, the best thing here, makes sweet, neat nods to American Football without ever feeling like a swindle, ‘A Volatile Mind’ sounds like an odd, awkward version of Taking Back Sunday. Experience will help, the band must learn to take advantage of their most interesting ideas, but Carl Nordqvist doesn’t exactly possess a delicate voice so they might need to decide how extended or experimental they want their rock to be.