The search for new Halloween season music is back in full effect, though if you are a regular reader you know I am not fooling anyone and this is just everyday listening. Where many of the goth revival bands get it wrong is just settling for a Ian Curtis imitation for vocals , and that is one of the better case scenarios more of than not it's baritone punk shouting. So when a band comes along that puts passion and resonance in the vocals I am very grateful. The first song its all about the vocals and the shadows of their vibe. This band from Oakland California is hard to pin down into one sub-genre of goth. The first song has more of an indie rock flair , with sonic somewhat in line with a band like the National. However they do not have the mainstream aspirations .The second song the mix is a little weird and the over all flow of the song is not as hooky. Here they step further into the bat cave, in fact the album progressively gets darker as it plays out.
The guitar mix is all over the place and production is a little bit of an issue though it feels like they are going for a death rocked out take on Jesus and the Mary Chain by the time we get to "A Way With Me". They continue to dive down darker in the night sounds with a more pondering pulse of the bass line on "Another Night". This might remind you of Night Sins before they go to dancey and had more of a organic thing going. The vocals go even lower and have more of a hollow sound here. I think I am glad I heard them get other sounds vocally before hearing this one as I need to know he has a dynamic range. I do like it as it almost has more in common with Fields of the Nephillim.
They released this album on Funeral Party Records. Who from what I have heard is a label trying to bring back goth, but they need to hire a p/r firm because I had not heard any buzz about this band or this album until stumbling across them on my friend Ichabod's pod cast. So shout out to Out Ov the Coffin for turning me onto some good music again. Normally I get one of his mix cds at Dragon-con, but I didn't hit the "State of the Goth Scene " panel because Dragon Con really just has the same bands who say the same scene and really have no pulse on the underground because they are to invested in their Hot Topic state of mind with dreams of their 15 minutes of Myspace stardom. Which is why bands like this are important. They pay their respects to the old guard, but are not tied down to goth night with the 50 year olds. I'll give this album an 8.5, its great for what it is, I am not sure how much air time it will get out of me, but if you missed out on the kind of goth the first time around, meaning you are under 35, then you might be more impressed. This is not to discredit what this band does in fact I am going to look foreard to hearing a full length from them.
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