Elvis Depressededly : "New Alhambra"

This Boston based project has one of the best names ever. They dropped this album back in may. The samples give a surreal creepiness, the effects on the vocals sit somewhere between old Bright Eyes and Modest Mouse. The rainy day mood and introspective nature creates an excellent atmosphere and the lyrics are very clever. The title track becomes almost so spacey that it doesn't hold together enough to grab me until the " I turn every corner" lyric. "Bruises" is slightly more upbeat. The guitar is more effected here and the samples don't stop which is fine with me as they are well used.One of the albums best songs is "Rock N Roll" where his reptilian soul is being blessed and Jesus is saving his soul so he can quit his job. The religious imagery almost confused me earlier on into wondering his this was a Christian based ting, but it's more ironic than not.


 After the effects layered sample of a televangelist they go into the more poppy strum to "Big Break" but the distorted buzz in the back ground add a subtle yet abrasive under coating to make it not radio friendly. "Ease" has a more psychedelic rock ambiance, with the vocals still sounding like they are being sung underwater.Here it makes the lyrics more difficult to make out. "New Heaven, New Earth" the vocals have a more distinct melody and purpose to propel the song. It's equally upbeat and dreamy.It ends with the more folk flavored strum of " Wastes of Time". The lyrics don't have the same twist to them that many of the other songs do. It is more straight forward all the way around. These are simple but smart songs often too short , but this is a project that I will continue to keep my ear open for in the future I'll give them an 8.5.