Huge Cosmic - microcosmic

Huge Cosmic

Microcosmic
self-released; 2013

4.1 out of 5

By Andrea Abi-Karam

Out of the ashes of Civil and High Noon Howls rose Huge Cosmic’s formation right out of Missassauga, Ontario. Jacob Hrajnik (guitar/vocals) and Dean Snowball (drums/vocals) hold it down with a huge sound and collaborative song writing. Drum parts were recorded at Snowball Manor, also known as Dean Snowball’s basement and the guitar and vocal parts were recorded at Electric Hrajnik, aka Jacob Hrajnik’s apartment. Microcosmic was recorded, produced and mixed by Jacob and BWC Studios. Greg Dawson mastered the record.

The Huge Cosmic duo has a big sound, jumpstarting their first album Microcosmic with an eerie intro into Animal Collective-esque vocals. The leading lyrics surprise the listener, “it’s been real / it’s been great / it’s been good / it’s been swell” concludes the album that hasn’t even been played through yet. The lyrics set up the rest of the record to be conscious of time.

Microcosmic exhibits a range of compositional styles from poppy intros to extremely original bridges such as the dial-up tone in “Wavelengths,” and beat-boxing in “Pinecone.” Huge Cosmic are certainly not short on their fuzz and vocal effects to spice up the album. “Pinecone “features a radio voice effect and vocal harmonizing during “so you put me back in the ground / where I lay.” 

“Let’s Talk About the Weather” features softer vocals at first before the guitar dives into a heavier grunge rock sound. Huge Cosmic has mastered the musical build-up using transitions from simple drumbeats and climbing guitar notes to kicking the fuzz pedal on and hitting hard and fast on the bass drum. This song exemplifies their skilled transitions from an almost cute, bass driven intro to 90’s hard rock to a melodic guitar solo. The complex composition of the song set against lyrics such as “high tail it right out of the city / steal your thunder / and reject your pity” make “Let’s Talk About the Weather” a powerful track.

“Zzz” is by far my favorite track on the record. It combines the rest of the album’s composition style with a cultural commentary talk break down starting around 1:15. The looped intro reminds me of a Dirty Projects picking riff. Melodic yet grungy guitar riffs and a bass heaviness underline the vocalist’s crisis over time not existing, and yet continuing to be trapped by it on the track, and in North American life. So much so that “everyday of my goddam life I’m sickly over ingesting caffeine to wire my already over stimulated nerves because that’s what I need right? …I gather that money is power and power is money but I have neither time doesn’t exist and it shouldn’t but it controls me.” He talks faster and faster as though concerned he will run out of time before he can say everything he needs to say before he finally breaks into a scream and the guitar/drum backdrop take the forefront with a heavy rock beat. 

Huge Cosmic brings a heavy and complex record complete with vocal harmonizing, radio voices, drum fills, and climbing guitar solos. All the while remaining self-referential and conscious of the world they live in and the audiences they play for.

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