Comin' at ya from Raleigh, NC, I recently saw this awesome band open for The Rosebuds (also an awesome band) back in January at the Middle East. I had just seen some band whose name I can't remember chug through a few closing tracks that sounded like terrible Jimmy Eat World songs and had very low expectations. Needless to say, they rocked, and I've been listening to their album that they had for sale ever since.
Imagine my surprise to see that the album's actual street release date is today of all days! So, I am here to laud them, as hopefully other, more influential blogs will be doing in the coming days.
The album:
This is The Love Language's unabashed debut, largely the work of frontman Stu McLamb, and apparently recorded nearly in entirety by him alone in a storage area with a 4-track recorder. The result is a concise, but brilliant, 9-track lo-fi masterpiece, with a fuzzed out sounded akin to the Walkmen, Neutral Milk Hotel (well, without a million other instruments), and Funeral-era Arcade Fire (I'm a Neon Bible hater, apologies). McLamb guides you around emotional highs and lows, from hushed, strained piano all the way to freewheeling romps like a Devendra Banhart dance party, and even manages to throw in a little country-- recalling Okkervil River or The Avett Brothers (particularly in his vocals).
Anyway, I could go on longer but it would do you better to just give a listen, so I present my track picks:
Nocturne
Sparxxx
Hear more at their MySpace
Live:
Ivan of the Rosebuds heard McLamb's album, and invited him to assemble a full band and head out on tour with them. Thus, the 7-piece touring ensemble of The Love Language was born. As good as the album is, the music is even better live. The songs yearn to be fleshed out and they do it, amazingly. Check out this live video of "Lalita" featuring the lovely and charming Missy Thangs on tambourine:
Attn Northeast:
They will be at TT the Bear's in Cambridge on April 23 and The Bellhouse in Brooklyn on the 24th. Do yourself a favor and GO!!
i can't wait to see what they do next. that album was great. and i think the next one will be even better, especially if it is recorded with a full band. awesome.
ReplyDelete