Coming out of the Minneapolis Synth scene, they have been described with such terms as murder-pop and nightmare-pop and though the Creature, Creature LP keeps the dark themes going, it's also got brighter elements, all of which showcases a great original sound. Aaron And The Sea - which goes by AATS - is a band with a unique identity. It takes you back to the emerging period of MTV with similar keyboard focus, and the beat is slowed down a lot by today's commercial push standards. Formed in 2008 by long time school mates Alex Brown and Aaron Rice, later joined by drummer Peter Leggett, the project quickly developed into a more serious, darker, and long-term endeavor and the band has been working on Creature Creature for quite some time, and it shows in a fully realized production.

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There's definitely an 80's retro feel to the tracks, and the slow burn of each song allows for different layers to get peeled away or added patiently. In a world of prefab beats and overproduced vocals, AATS starts from scratch and constructs their own disturbing nightmare world. Feelings of dread and fear close in, creeping slowly, inevitably and inescapably. In a psychopathic way AATS reminds us that the dark feelings we experience are just as complex and rich as the good, and they take their exploration of these spaces to the maximum. AATS has defied the odds by coming out with an LP that maintains that level of excellence across all ten songs and has succeeded in carving out their own unique space... though that space may be carved out of an innocent victim.

The album was co-produced and co-recorded by Aaron Rice and Minneapolis producer Joe Johnson with mastering done by Pete Lyman (Best Coast, Mars Volta, Bloc Party) at Infrasonic Sound and the fidelity and tonal presence on the whole album is really great. Aaron And The Sea's Creature Creature is a fascinating, unique album with a signature style and has been crafted with creative integrity. Darkly beautiful, haunting and slowly seductive, it's like a delicious, inescapable vision of fear closing in on you. You can run but you cannot hide. AATS is here to stay and they have created a complex, original statement with Creature Creature that will surely be relevant, influential and imitated for years to come. [RUST, April 2012]