Hitting streets March 13 is Thrushes' Sun Come Undone. This Baltimore-based band is on a mission to make reverb a household word. Luscious and saccharine, Thrushes' sound replicates the 'wall of sound' like it's a full-time job, and on tracks like "Into The Woods", guitarist Casey Harvey presents a case study in why Rickenbackers and reverb have more in common than simply beginning with "r". The Thrushes sound is never cloying, however; in fact, Harvey's distinctive sound plays perfectly into the simply elegant vocals of Anna Conner, a vocal minimalist who manages to thread her singing into the woven texture of each song.
Complementing the guitar/vocal combination of Conner and Harvey are Matt Davis on drums and Rachel Tracy on bass. Throughout the better part of Sun Come Undone, Davis reveals that he understands the quality that percussion has as a complement to the group's overall sound, while still managing to steal his moments without too much bombast on "Aidan Quinn" and "Heartbeats". Rachel Tracy's bass is often subtly wound into the band's graceful noise pop, but leaves its indelible footprint clearly visible in the introduction to tracks like "Roy" and "The Hardest Part", setting the path for the band's foray into the ensuing song.
On the latter half of the album, tracks such as the patient and instrumental "New Years Kiss" and "Roy", build up to a sustainable crescendo while earlier tracks like "Ghost Train" and "Into The Woods" come on strong much faster, delivering an unforgiving shoegaze sound that can often be as much compared to Jesus & Mary Chain as it can Sonic Youth in the "Bull in the Heather" days.
Worth more than just a listen, Thrushes could find their way into your CD player for quite some time.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Download "Aidan Quinn" by Thrushes.
And don't forget about the Thrushes release party at The Ottobar on March 10.
1 comment:
Nice! They really deserve the love. I wish that I could turn around reviews as fast and elegantly as you.
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