SIDE EFFECTS – Descending Rabbit Holes

“Don’t Contradict The Facts” is the big hook-y opener kicking off the latest Side Effects album Descending Rabbit Holes, their fourth and first since 2012’s Counterclockwise. Hailing from Zagreb, Croatia, the madly talented duo (hoping to be a trio; they are on the hunt for a new bass player) of Ivan Mihaljevi on vocals, bass, and guitar, and Alen Frljak on drums, set down a brash melodic groove on the lead cut and follow-up “In The Shadow Of A Crumbled Fort”, the first video-supported single from the album.

Having some sonic similarities to the Californian band Incubus, Descending Rabbit Holes offers an eclectic collection of eleven songs of varying tempos and mostly upbeat grooves. Ivan cuts loose with a couple frenetic bass solos on “Diversions”, and displays his chops as both a riff-meister and a soloist on “The Siren Song”. He has a voice that allows him to handle quieter material as well as the harder rocking tunes; sometimes within the same song as he does on “The Siren Song”, which has an acoustically driven campfire chorus set in between the pyrotechnics. “Hideout” is the album’s pure ballad, where Ivan layers a haunting, neo-psychedelic figure atop layered acoustic guitars and the steady Skiffle beat laid down by Alen in one of the most successful tunes on the album. “Obituary Of Common Sense” begins with a similar lulling intro before launching into a jagged guitar assault in one of the album’s darker cuts.

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