Imaginary People : 'Alibi"

Here's another band to file under the there is some really weird post-punk adjacent music coming out lately. The delicate, anxious nature of Dylan Von Wagner's vocals. The songwriting does not hold the typical tension of post-punk, blending elements of indie rock into the more expansive sound created here. The guitar flirts with an almost dream pop-like atmosphere. Things get even more dynamic for "Renegade".  Some of the songs do begin to work with a similar sonic cadence, finding me having to go back and give second listens to decipher things. Some of this lies in the quivering nature of the vocals. At times, this creates a Bryan Ferry vibe if he were covering Interpol. 

"Soft Toke' has a more flowing melody that hooks me in more than the previous song. The atmosphere underlying the guitars keeps things flowing in a dreamy direction. "Bronx Girl' leans into the mellower side of where they take you, with a reflective vocal line that makes it an interesting indie rock ballad. They work off a more rock n roll groove for their cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper".  Sonically, it holds very little common space with the original, which works for me. They maintain the pace going into "Crazy Eight," which feels like a more manic jam off the previous song. "Neon Age' reminds me of older Arcade Fire. 'Five Days" carries a little more of a rockabilly vibe to the instrumentation. 

'David's Eyes' strips things down to just a well-written song. It is a more compact arrangement with fewer over-reverbed out layers, which work, but they needed something like this to give a dynamic range to the album. 'Sun Change" balances concise songwriting with the more vulnerable, emotive side that seems to be the dominant personality of this album.  I will give this one a 9.5, as it's a pretty interesting and impactful listen, very honest in its aspirations and fueled by an original sonic vision. It drops on September 12th. 

pst316