Object of Affection : "Field of Appearances"

 

This Los Angeles band exists on the more indie rock side of post-punk with touches of shoe gaze fogging up their windshield. The second has more of a new wave pulse to the beat with the vocals and instrumentation taking on more of an indifferent glide atop it. "Time" has more of a punk feel to the guitar, but from the school of punk that has a 1950's rock feel. This is marginally more aggressive than what they have been doing, at time reminding me of bands like Pavement. 

There is more of a late 80s post punk feel to "Laying Claim". The drum programming creates more of a dancey Love & Rockets style feel, where most bands go for more of a reverb heavy Bauhaus feel, so props for doing their own thing. They also put a little more balls in the vocals with this one.  Female vocals harmonize on "Buried" which finds the vocal going back into their more apathetic malaise. The fact the verses give the vocals more space provide more dynamic depth that I did not notice on my first listen to this album. The single note guitar melodies are also a nice touch. 

"Someone" has a little more melody to , while the guitar sailing into more shoe gaze territory, leaving the bass to hold down the fort , which is an accurate representation of what this kind of music is supposed to do. It could be said this song is more dream pop than the others. "Is This Fate" gets more rock in it's driving drumming. The lyric mention fall asleep at the coin laundry, so the narrative is clearer than the other songs. "Con Man" is more introspective, with the bass at the forefront to provide the backbone amid the ambiance. The vocals are pretty solid in their attempts at hookiness.  "Empty Eyes" finds things taking a darker shift, with the vocals dropping into a lower more detached Joy Division like delivery. 

There is a more muscular bass tone for the last song, that thump with more of a grunge like tension. The vocals muse in the background. It sounds great even if they are less engaged in hooking you into the song, though the sense of dynamics is still present. They do rock in the last 30 seconds of the song, which is important for me to hear that bands are capable of doing so if they set their minds to it. I will give this album a 9, there is a somewhat uniform sound in terms of presentation, but also a balance of keeping things fresh so they songs do not sound the same, will continue to keep my ears open for these guys are they are onto something, and if you want indie rock that does not forget to rock then this is for you.