After releasing a full length clear back in 2003, Pacific UV took a long hiatus and re-located across the country (from Athens, GA to Portland, OR). The E.P. EP is a short teaser of music for another impending full length and while it's not mind-blowing, there are enough unique things going on within the release that they're definitely worth paying attention to.

While technically the group falls into a fairly standard shoegazer/dreampop category, the production on this EP is something that helps to push them in a different direction from their contemporaries. It's lush, but at the same time a bit odd, emphasizing strange parts of the instrumentation to sometimes positive and sometimes disconcerting effect.

Opening track "Know" is a perfect example, and after a minute of fairly standard sounding fuzzy guitar rock, different elements start creeping into the mix, and gritty, wirey synths buzz like giant mechanical bugs in the front of the mix before the track dissolves into a spacious second half that calls to mind drifting work by Spiritualized. "Chemical" works in almost reverse order, drifting through synth, guitar, and vocal ambience while quick shreds of tinny 60s-inspired guitars cut through at points and shred the placid surface. "50s" is pure west-coast dreampop, with expansive production and heavy reverb on everything including the acoustic guitar lead.

The final track of the EP is a remix by Eluvium that stretches to over six minutes and basically morphs everything but muffled percussion into a dreamy haze of washing sound, which is just about what you'd expect from him. The total end result of the short (four tracks, under twenty minutes) EP is several nice tracks and just enough of a teaser to get me back interested in them again. If they can sustain the pace for a full length and mix things up just a bit more, they should have something great on their hands.