Ideophonic - De Caos Orden (classic review, 2009)
Ideophonic emerged from the thick of the 2000’s indie-emo rock craze with their own brand of existential angst and gracefully somber moods.
Score: 8/10
Before the RGV was blessed with the bluesy garage-punk jams of La Ratera and the runaway goth/post-punk sensation that is Twin Tribes, we had Ideophonic, of which two members (Joel Nino and Armando Ibarra) moved on to complete these later bands. Ideophonic’s De Caos Orden was late to the indie-emo rock party — a full 10 years after American Football’s debut. It didn’t matter. They found their own approach that couldn’t be pigeonholed into any music movement.
They had the airy tension of Radiohead and the wispy vocals and gentle balladry of Death Cab For Cutie. There’s strong bass leads, like in Ideophonic is Dead and Time is. . ., but the echoey and enveloping guitar-work weave their way to the forefront on every song. They have a semi-psychedelic quality that’s almost Circa Survive-ish. The drums fill in for the occasional lack of grooves, like the skittering sidesticks of Tides and the math-rocky rhythms of Revenant. The rawest and heaviest moment goes to Goodnight with its fuzzy vocals and uptempo strums, while Honey on a Forked Tongue closes the album with a soft backdrop and the most indulgent emo chorus on the album.
Lyrically and thematically, it’s very cerebral. Existential introspection, hope, and epiphany are explored in the star-gazing Galaxies. “We’ll spend light-years to find what’s right between our eyes,” Joel Nino sings through blissful reverb. Greed cuts life short in the hyperactive world of Ideophonic is Dead. “It’s only a matter of time before it’s gone for good. You want it all, but you cannot take what you don’t deserve.” The reluctance, turbulence, and death of a relationship (Goodnight, Tides, Time is. . .) are dissected with impressive levels of meditation. The somber atmosphere and spacey production make the insightful narratives hit even harder.
Ideophonic managed to round out the decade with a sound that’s as sleepy as it is massive. The angst of someone on the outside looking in, meets the cognition of the inner mind looking out.
Purchase and listen to De Caos Orden on Bandcamp here
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