The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa are a band from the Czech Republic who started off making noisy Shoegaze à la (all the ones you’ve heard about) then went off on the other end of the spectrum and added Electronic influences to their sound. From what is known about them, they changed styles at the time because their gear was stolen from their rehearsal space…

Pigment (1991) was the first release from the band and might be their best work, but I do not want to discount their other material. Their second ep Fluidtrance Centauri is simply eargasmic and almost tops this release with heavy hitters, but the energy flowing from their debut is more welcoming and has that certain air of energetic youthful naivety.

“What's” is a great opener and starts things off with a ripping sway of rawness. The speed and pace is reminiscent of perhaps something Dinosaur Jr did in their early days and that is quite nice to hear really. Lead singer Kateřina Winterová is wonderful and brings forth a not-quite-good-yet-awesome vocal style that meshes well with the Punk/feedback drenched sound.

Once the fuzz erupts into the textures of the tracks things really get good. “Square Wave” begins with squelching guitars while the bass silently sneaks in followed by the drums. It’s basic, but as soon as the vocals start you hear something familiar. The sound that has always been talked about comes forth. It must be the frequencies, or perhaps the overall atmospherics of a track like this, but if you dig the euphoric songs “Vapor Trail” “Sometimes” or “Avalyn” from arguably, the big three of the genre, then this is an accompaniment piece to add to your repertoire of play lists. I think you can hit that “sound” if you play the track very loud with good headphones, or maybe if you jam it while being sleepy or just waking up. You know, those “tender moments” of relaxation in the presence of your surroundings.

As for the rest, the remaining two tracks, “Who's” and “Honeyrain” fill out the second half of this ep and bring things to a close with thunderous outbursts of sound and soothing refrain. I don’t think this needed anything else really. It is perfect in its simple execution and it helped establish this band as a cult favorite in their home country.

One another note, I really like the cover art. The pic of Winterová layered over by several hazy colored filters pretty much shows what the music will sound like. Much in the vein of Loveless, you can hear the music through sight.

This is why I love Shoegaze so much. Dig it…