-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: The Stargazer Lilies
Album...: We Are The Dreamers
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Indie Pop, Shoegaze
LABEL....: Graveface SCENE.....: 2015-02-01
BITRATE..: 879 kbps avg STORE.....: 2013-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 10
SIZE.....: 229.7MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://thestargazerlilies.wix.com/home
- TRACKLIST
1 We Are The Dreamers 4:28
2 Del Rey Mar 3:39
3 Undone 5:01
4 How We Lost 4:33
5 Endless Days 3:43
6 Well Versed To Verb Doubt 1:33
7 Light Of Day 3:03
8 Sad Colored Tears 3:42
9 Don't Waste My Time 3:30
10 Because 2:20
Total Playtime: 35:32
After their last band Soundpool took a drastic left turn from a classic
shoegaze sound toward a shimmering, disco-gaze hybrid, it seems like anything
would be possible for Kim Field and John Ceparano's new project, the
Stargazer Lilies. Working with Black Moth Super Rainbow's Tobacco, who's
credited with "curation," the duo concoct a sound that subtracts any hint of
disco in favor of a dreamy, effects-coated haze that's more suited to
cuddling up under warm blankets than hitting the dancefloor. Cuddling up but
not getting too cozy, since as with everything Tobacco does, there's a creepy
undercurrent to the surface prettiness. Field's almost helium-high vocals
sound disembodied at times, and the shifting swaths of guitar noise drift
through the mix like dark clouds on a sunny day. That mix is dense and filled
with sound, but the group allows for the occasional moment of quiet calm to
give ears and souls a rest. The overall sound comes close to a very doomy
Cocteau Twins or Lush on heavy tranquilizers, but also feels very much like
the work of a more carefully arranged Soundpool minus any kind of rhythmic
intensity. It makes for uneasy easy listening, with quite of a few of the
songs lodging deep in the listener's brain like a distant, sad memory, with
the whole album creating a heavy mood of languorous melancholy that's very
hard to shake. We Are the Dreamers comes across like a vivid dream that's so
murky you can't quite figure out if it's good or bad, but you know it feels
very important and real. Modern shoegaze often falls flat because it seems
more occupied with getting the sound right and forgoing everything else; the
Stargazer Lilies get the sound and the feeling right, and that makes their
album much, much more than just revisiting the past.
*
The Stargazer Lilies' debut full-length We Are the Dreamers is nicely
executed, Twin Peaks-era dream pop. The two-piece deploy especially hazy and
almost occasionally rumbling atmospheres that murkily float along for three
minutes apiece with breathy female vocals, then exit the scene like a lost
memory.
They've certainly got the hallmarks down (patient acoustics in "Del Ray Mar";
seasick omnichord tones in "Undone"), but the dynamics feel a little soft.
The duo rarely do much to rise above the ambient fill, and if you've a mind
for that sort of steadiness, We Are the Dreamers will nail that need for you.
For everyone else, the average moments on this record feel safe and
engrossing enough, while exceptions to the rule should make the overall
experience worthwhile. The bridge of "How We Lost" sounds like a Pixies
climax at half the speed, and K Field's back-of-the-throat breathiness
definitely sounds like it's pushed more to its limits during a surprise
buildup near the end. Its followup, Side B opener "Endless Days," finds Field
delivering a chorus hook that, in the context of the record, practically
lashes out, while the noise behind her crescendos tastefully (is this where
we drop the unavoidable My Bloody Valentine mention?). The effortless melody
ending "Don't Waste My Time" is a late highlight.
We Are the Dreamers carries a vague mood somewhere between cautiously
optimistic and totally disenfranchised. It's hard to grasp, but it's
enjoyable to get lost in the journey of what it's trying to feel, as its
creators craft a pleasing vehicle for it.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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