- release info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
artist: Sea Wolf
album: Leaves in the River
label: Dangerbird Records
genre: Indie
rip date: 2007-09-29
street date: 2007-09-25
size: 50.79 MB
type: CD
quality: VBR kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- release notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
"Sea Wolf is an indie outfit perfectly suited to light up the blogosphere,
mostly because they sound like an indie outfit. Also, up until May, when
their EP, Get to the River Before it Runs Too Low, hit the shelves, not many
of us knew who they were. The good news is that, unlike many bands that fall
into the e-hype trap, Sea Wolf doesnÆt just sound like a good band when
streamed off some undergradÆs bandwidth, they actually are a good band. Their
first full length, Leave in the River, is further evidence of that.
Essentially, Sea Wolf is an outlet for singer-songwriter Alex Brown Church,
(who also plays bass for Irving). Church has said that, though heÆs spent
most of his time in California, his music doesnÆt have a connection to one
place. However, the sound of Leaves in the River belies that statement a
little. Recorded in Seattle with Phil Ek, the album sounds distinctly
northwestern. It is a damp, grey, and dreary record from beginning to end.
You can feel the fog rolling in at every moment; the clouds sit above Church
while he sings, threatening to rain if they arenÆt already.
What makes ChurchÆs claim valid is that so often the ominous feeling of late
fall days is tied more to the narrators of these songs rather than their
surroundings. Sure, there are the title leaves floating in the title river,
the ocean always on the outskirts of the lonely lives that Church depicts.
There are dingy drifts of snow, late-night rain and an ever-present darkness.
But all these details seem handpicked by the narrator, more as road flares
illuminating the ditches that these people are brooding in than the stuff
that makes up the road itself. In ôThe Cold, the Dark, & the Silenceö, over
an appropriately antiseptic drum loop, Church sings ôWhen the cold, the dark,
and the silence come, itÆs like a sudden rush of water through your heart and
lungsö. This comes late in the a record full of imagery that sets up water
as a constant presence that can sometimes push you to deadening numbness and,
at its highest tides, shocking loneliness.
Along with the solitary narratives that run through Leaves in the River comes
equally spare instrumentation. An unassuming rhythm section backs Church and
his simple guitar. A cello that adds to an ominous tone as much as it can
provide a beautiful lilt is often present. In ôMiddle Distance Runnerö the
strings provide comfort to ChurchÆs narrator who knows he canÆt commit to a
woman, and wants to just pretend that its okay for a night. On other tracks,
when Church lets a little anger slip into his narratorsÆ self-loathing, the
instrumentation seems to side with them. A jangly, shrill guitar riff picks
along while Church sings ôBlack dirt will stain your feet, and when you walk,
youÆll leave black dirt in the streetö. ItÆs rare in these songs for the
narrator to put that sort of burden on others, but here it is just sinister
enough to be at least partially honest. The shift is a welcome one in an
album so full of brooding.
What gets in the way of this recordÆs complete success is exactly what makes
it so popular with the bloggers. Lumped together on one album, these songs
get to be too self pitying for their own good. Mostly, Church is good at
avoiding overt romanticism in all the bourbon and near-tears. But when, in
ôWinter Windowsö, he sings ôThis is the world, this is the world we live in,
itÆs not the one we chose but itÆs the one weÆre given,ö it becomes
problematic. The narrator is shirking the responsibility for his sad-sack
state in a liquor-induced fit of self-pity. Whether Church is condemning
this character or letting him off the hook is unclear, and the sentiment of
this song, the second on the record, bleeds through the rest of Leaves in the
River.
Most of the songs are good enough on their own to sidestep that pitfall, but
ôSong for the Deadö, with its sing-song chorus, is too contrived to stand on
its own (Church awkwardly rhymes ôthicketö with ôcricket"), and ends up being
the worst track. That ôYouÆre a Wolfö, which also appeared on the EP, is the
best track on the album is unfortunate, but songs like ôBlack Leaf Fallsö and
closer ôNeutral Groundö come awfully close to matching the bandÆs default
anthem. The opening title track would be a serious contender too, if it
werenÆt hamstrung by dull atmospherics that seek to set a mood that the songs
themselves can provide more organically.
There will be those that laud Leaves in the River as the coming of the next
great heartbreak band. And while theyÆre probably giving Sea Wolf a bit too
much credit, those who dismiss this record as too simple are missing the
little things that make this record, and Sea Wolf as a band, very solid."
- track list ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
1. Leaves in the River ( 5:00)
2. Winter Windows ( 3:51)
3. Black Dirt ( 3:45)
4. The Rose Captain ( 3:40)
5. Middle Distance Runner ( 3:27)
6. You're a Wolf ( 3:35)
7. Song for the Dead ( 3:28)
8. Black Leaf Falls ( 3:25)
9. The Cold, the Dark & the Silence ( 4:25)
10. Neutral Ground ( 3:55)
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