Peaking Lights – 936 5.6

               Peaking Lights really had everything I look for in a release: retro sounds, low fidelity, and a supposedly hypnotic repetition. Upon listening, I grew increasingly disappointed with this album. Despite possessing all those qualities, it failed to make any lasting impact on me.

                I see where their influences come from: early, drugged-out Pocahaunted or a milder Sun Araw. But their arrangements lack the more forceful impact of either of those bands. Somehow there’s just a weakness with those flat vocals. Only the bass seems to really drive these songs, otherwise nothing else appears to be holding them together. The drums are virtually non-existent, and the melodies surprisingly forgettable. 

                Not Not Fun released this which shocked me. Usually they tend to put out better quality musicians. All the tracks go on for far too long considering the dearth of creative ideas. Repeating the same mantra works only if there appear to be meaningful tweaks or if the song is structured properly. 

                Despite the weakness, I’d say it does have a good song which raises above all the rest. “Tiger Eye (Laid Back)” achieves what they appear to be aiming for in the rest of the songs. Vocals here are again flat, but they work well with the strong arrangements. Consider it like an extended Nite Jewel song. Other than this exceptional track, it is relatively uneventful.

LA Vampires featuring Matrix Metals – So Unreal 8.1

Having already been exposed to Matrix Metals and LA Vampires collaboration with Zola Jesus this year, I didn’t have high expectations. Both of those recordings left me feeling a little left out in the cold. Amanda Brown was responsible for Pocahaunted (a band close to my heart) and the man behind Matrix Metals created a favorite Outer Limits Recordings, so I felt I owed them another chance. They proved my hope was not misplaced. 

                These two play off each other quite nicely. Matrix provides the narco background, and Amanda’s voice expands into nothing with her carefully honed hipness. Each one goes on far longer than you’d expect, but somehow the length of the tracks adds to what’s going on. Upon repeated listens, bizarre goings on between the loops becomes apparent. 

                “Make Me Over” serves as the single for the group. If you can’t get through this haze, then call it a day. Most of the album follows in the same vein of drugged out lo-fi. But the real winner on here (for me at least) is “How Would I Know”, where rhetorical questions are halfheartedly asked as pieces of sound float on by. The song gets stuck in your head and will never leave. It sounds like a pop song heard while asleep, just perfectly dreamy and almost graspable.

                In case you wondered whether or not they were dedicated to the 80s, or if you needed more evidence, there’s the song “Berlin Baby”. Your confirmation has arrived, the cheesy drum hits and Germany-coolness worship is complete. Things end with the vaguely upbeat “So Unreal”.

                Not Not Fun Records did a great thing with releasing this. Listening to this, I hope they decide to do it again.

Vladee Divacc – Technical Foul EP 7.4

Maybe the kids in Tempe, Arizona need something to do. Leave it to the blandest suburbs imaginable that would make people create “Dunkwave”. Apparently Dunkwave is a mixture of noise, drone, and random basketball samples. Before you groan and say “Geez, that sounds like literally the most awful thing ever” give it a listen. I decided to pretend I hadn’t just read what it actually was and put it on.

Vladee Divacc (a reference to the Serbian basketball player Vlade Divac) consists of Edouard Urcadez and Christian Filardo, two young artists from Arizona State University. Together they’ve made an oddly compelling noise/drone act. Plus, they get rid of the usual boring acts by playing in actual basketball courts (though they get kicked out, which is unfortunate).

Right from the get go, you feel the bouncing ball, though it is disguised through various levels of distortion. “Ostertag” has this is in full as you hear the healthy levels of distortion. The word “Ostertag” swims through the delightful muck. 

The vocals grab you though. Sounding like early Pocahaunted vocals, they are sustained for unreasonable periods of time. Mixed with the lower registers, it occasionally transforms into some beautiful moments, like dead in the center of “Drazen Petrovic (Hero)” where they seem to reach a gentle, fleeting moment. “Technical” is just basically vocals for the majority of the song and is shockingly well-done. 

Despite what many might see as a pointless gimmick, it does succeed in what it sets up to do. Basketball suddenly becomes a part of this hyper-weird environment. The gimmick actually helps give it a personality, avoiding the fate of being faceless artists making noise drone music. And at only 12 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. 

Below is a link to the album, which you can download for free off of bandcamp:

Vladee Divacc