Indie Premiere: The Sound of Sunsets

Genre: Indie Folk/Acoustic

Origin: Danville, California

Watching the sunset is a bittersweet experience. One can feel many different feelings rushing through them as they stare at the massive star that brings life to our little, isolated corner of the universe. As it slowly and gracefully dips below the horizon we, as humans, are presented with a very direct challenge to our understanding of our daily lives. In simplest terms, watching the sunset is an existential experience that, under certain circumstances, can verge on spiritual. Though this may not be the intent of The Sound of Sunsets, it is certainly what I take away from their eponymous debut album.

The Sound of Sunsets is the work of San Francisco Bay Area musician Zack Hunter. The first thing that gleams off of this album is the quality of the production. Recorded, mixed and mastered over the course of 3 months in Hunter's bedroom during a busy final semester at college, the smoothness of these tracks is pretty impressive. From a casual listen, the album could be derided as a collection of similar, easy-listening songs; but that would be giving very little credit to what is a valiant first effort by a young indie musician making his introductory wave in the indie scene. Rather, the album carries a consistent theme of searching for hope and meaning in a dark reality, much like the existential crisis brought upon by staring up at the starry sky at night, or by watching the sunset for that matter. Just as these crises tend to carry a certain spiritual weight to them, so too does The Sound of Sunsets. One of Hunter's writing inspirations is his Christian faith and it is clear on some level in many of the songs on the album. It is important to note that this is by no means Christian worship music; the songwriter's faith is simply an important aspect to his emotional experience and so it is reflected in his lyrics.

SoS sounds like an indie collaboration between The Fray and Iron and Wine, with some songs resembling one more than the other. Two tracks that really stand out on the album and also demonstrate the sound that Hunter has crafted are "Stumble" and "Around Me." The former sounds like it could have been taken off of The Fray's How to Save a Life. It leads with haunting and innocent guitar picking and finishes with the notes of a gentle piano. "Around Me" falls on the Iron and Wine side of the SoS spectrum. Hunter's vocals are soft and almost whispered as he taps into a feeling of restlessness: "Is this the same, or is it different? Why can't I live a life consistent?" These two tracks act as the cornerstones of the album in that they establish the two sounds that SoS seeks to coalesce, though they are also distinct sounds unto themselves, both vocally and instrumentally. This combination works very well for the kind of vibe that SoS works to create.

The Sound of Sunsets is nothing revolutionary but it is a great piece of work from a new artist entering the scene with an interesting musical voice. The tone that this first album has set for Hunter and his future work is a promising one. As one listens to the album, great potential seems to have a pulse just beneath the surface. SoS' sophomore effort is definitely something to look forward to if this early work is any indication.

Crashing Symbols reviews are regularly accompanied by a number rating out of 5. However, given that this is the debut work of a local indie band, I have chosen to abstain from this black and white standard in favor of letting the review speak for itself, along with the sample tracks below.

The Sound of Sunsets - "Stumble"

The Sound of Sunsets - "Around Me"

The debut album from The Sound of Sunsets is available for purchase now in the iTunes Store.

-JB

Crash Thursday: The Dodos - No Color

Genre: Indie Folk/Alternative
Origin: San Francisco, California

The Dodos, made up of Meric Long and Logan Kroeber, are now on their fourth outing with No Color. By this point in time, we've come to embrace their wonderful late 2000's folk-rock escapades on albums Beware of the Maniacs and Visiter, and then we've also tried to understand the back-step switch to a new producer and the implementation of vibraphonist Keaton Snyder to the mix on a vibrant but forced Time to Die. In any event, support for The Dodos is always attainable, and that support is very much at the heart of No Color.

What might have felt forced and restrained is mostly absent here, as bass drums prominently kick off "Black Night." It's within those few seconds that we can already tell this is a return to basics for the band, continuing slyly into the album's shiner, "Going Under." Pervasive drumming and excellent guitar instrumentals bring us closer to the foreground as well as to Meric's vocals, who sings some of The Dodos strongest lyrics yet. Songs "When Will You Go" and "Companions" offer similar vibes, displaying a natural progression of working guitars along with some fine lyrical content.

Songs like "Sleep" and "Don't Try To Hide It" do have dandy instrumentals, and they feature singer-songwriter Neko Case of The New Pornographers, but it's difficult to tell whether her contributions really have any effect other than to help harmonize. Snyder is also apparently on half of this album, including the song "Hunting Season," but his vibraphone contributions are much more muted and less prominent in exchange for the duo's own work. All of this guest work is fine, but it begs the question of why they have to appear in the first place. It's worth noting that it may take a few listens before any real melodies sink in.

No Color is not entirely memorable, but it provides an outline for listeners as to what we can love and expect from this band. It's a fresh start of sorts that conquers the ground between the relaxed freedom of Visiter and the fixated boundaries that labeled Time to Die, so it's definitely a step in the right direction. My own support for The Dodos is still optimistic, now that I believe we have something to linger with.

3.5/5

The Dodos - "Going Under"


The Dodos - "When Will You Go"


No Color is out now on Frenchkiss Records.

-DJ

In Case of the Mondays: George Ellias and Indie Folk

Bob Dylan had the surprising knack for writing lyrics that were so eloquently literary and from the heart that when he paired up his writing style with his simplistic guitar and harmonica, a new chord was struck that hit the world known as folk. That was back during a time when pop culture set itself aside and the independence and freedom to express was in full swing. Folk music was now just as rampant as rock and roll, and all for the better.

Now flashing forward to 2011, L.A bound George Ellias attempts to bring Dylan's style back to the masses with his new indie folk EP called Wanderlust, and it's just as righteously sound. He conjures up a type of nostalgia on tracks such as "Wonder Babe" and "Stand Ashore," hearkening back to tracks easily found in catalogs of Dylan or even Woody Guthrie. Their influences are deeply rooted in Ellias' own creations, and it's a good feeling knowing that a lot can be said from such simplicity amidst the gargantuan labels of today's current music scene. It's just what you need for those types of Mondays.

Check out "Stand Ashore" below as well as the rest of Wanderlust EP at the George Ellias Bandcamp webpage or on iTunes.