Throwing Sparks is the debut release from Gainsville, Florida five-piece Averkiou, and the group certainly doesn't let moss gather. Clocking in at eight songs and just over twenty-two minutes, it's closer to the running length of an EP, but certainly tries to make up for lack of time in instrumental density. Recorded over two and a half years, the process of tracking the release apparently was the cause of many broken instruments and frayed nerves, but there's a raw promise here that's hard to deny.

Sounding inspired by a slew of early 90s groups that still send a shiver down my spine (like Teenage Fanclub, Ride, Jesus And Mary Chain and others), Averkiou utilizes a triple guitar attack with loads of feedback and driving rhythm sections with multi-tracked vocal harmonies. "I Don't Wanna Go Out" opens the release with just under three and a half minutes of fuzzed-out power guitar chords and a sturdy rhythm section as dreamy vocals sift high through the mix and eventually build into a gorgeous blowout of an ending. "Holland & Headaches" is even more hooky, with another hazy, Bandwagonesque guitar feel and warm vocal tracks.

For sheer overload, "The South Wall" probably can't be topped. Again coming in at roughly three and a half minutes, the wall-of-sound song sounds like it has approximately 20 layers of guitars that act as a tidal wave for the vocals to surf on and the drums and bass to get swirled under. Songs like "We'll Stand Erect" and "Girls Go Out" are power-pop filtered through a thick shoegaze lens, and both work quite well. Despite the long documented recording phase, Throwing Sparks amazingly doesn't sound incredibly fussed-with. It still manages to retain a rough charm, and while it does trudge a bit in places due to feeling a bit over-packed, it definitely manages to stand out a bit from other artists doing similar work.