-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
Artist..: Drσpe
Album...: Canicular Days
GENRE...: Indie
STYLE...: Indie Rock, Post Rock, Shoegaze
YEAR....: 2013
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V LABEL...: Trickser TontrΣger
BITRATE..: 925 kbps avg SOURCE..: CD
SIZE.....: 268.62 MB TRACKS..: 9
URL..: http://www.facebook.com/draapemusic
- TRACKLIST
1 Blue Skies 3:48
2 I Kept Falling Asleep 3:24
3 Sister's Eye 6:02
4 Wanted You To Stay 5:13
5 I Don't Mind 3:45
6 Memories 4:37
7 When You Wake Up Again 4:12
8 Hike 5:43
9 I Did What You've Done 3:50
Total Playtime: 40:34
It's been a steady uphill glide for Oslo quintet Drσpe (it's pronounced
"draw-peh"). The band formed in 2010 and released their first EP the
following year, five songs they say were inspired by "colorful shoegaze,
dream pop weightless, sunshine, summer and love." The Norwegians were brought
to our attention earlier this year with the quite brilliant free download
'Memories' (which still sounds heavenly here) and the promise of a debut
album very soon. True to their word, their first full length is now
available. It's called 'Canicular Days' and you should listen to it, because
it's a stunning collection of all the things that inspired them. Essentially,
they've lived up to their potential.
As expected, Drσpe's sound does draw heavily from the dreampop that you
already know, but that's not to say they've failed to put their own slant on
things, and it's definitely not to say that they don't have the songs to
compete with the best. Very often a band will make sure their opening track
is one of the best, as it will be many people's introduction to their music.
Here that opening track is 'Blue Skies' and it begins as a lush and
misty-eyes soundscape with heavenly layered vocals. Then a quick change
through the gears turns it into an impressively galloping dream-gaze track.
It's the impressive start we'd hoped for. The best thing about 'Canicular
Days' is that they haven't put the best song first; they've made nearly
everything here a best song contender.
Those vocals run through the whole album and the magical changes of pace do
to. Take the surging 'I Kept Falling Asleep', and listen as it suddenly slows
into an explosion of colour, taking its magic to another level. 'Sister's
Eye' is built for blissfully lying back and enjoying in the sun as it
steadily shifts through the gears, and 'I Don't Mind' achieves a similarly
breathtaking feat.'Wanted You To Stay' and the sublime 'Hike' steer them a
little closer to conventional shoegaze with wonderfully wailing guitar sounds
and more of those stunning vocals. The term "dreampop" gets used regularly,
but 'When You Wake Up Again' actually could be the soundtrack to a
particularly relaxing dream which you'd prefer not to end at all. It's left
to the unfortunate 'I Did What You've Done' (another typically great song) to
signal the end of an album that you don't particularly want to finish. The
music may be all soft and snuggly but as an album 'Canicular Days' is rock
solid.
-=- 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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