- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Western Civ
Album: Shower The People You Love With Gold
Label: Self Released
Playtime: 39:53 min
Genre: Indie
URL: http://www.westerncivrock.com
Rip date: 2009-02-25
Street date: 2009-02-26
Size: 56.65 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 187 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
After releasing its debut LP, Remington Steel Magnolias, two years ago,
Muscle Shoals, Ala., natives Western Civ headed north to Chapel Hill. The
move was appropriate enough: Remington lunged at the legacies of Chapel Hill
history, namely Superchunk and Archers of Loaf. Now, the three indie rockers
with a penchant for squalor made their new bed among the clubs that once
birthed those bands.
If history repeats itself, we may soon see the new O.C. band departing for
Boston or the Nor Cal shores, as Shower the People You Love With Gold comes
marked more by Pixies and Pavement than Carolina's own indie titans. With
Brighten the Corners producer Mitch Easter behind the boards, Shower ditches
the lo-fi aesthetic of its predecessor, allowing gleaming guitars and
harmonies to shine up front and not beneath layers of fuzz.
Rich Henderson's reverb-drenched guitar melts into E-bow courtesy of
auxiliary member Jason Hall on "I Am a Waterfall!", a mid-album highlight
that nods at the Pixies with a melodic hook strewn with shards of dissonance.
With its spiraling blasts of guitar and background vocals that vacillate
between primal howls and honeyed croons, "Capitol Steps" could be a Doolittle
b-side.
But "Rally," with its lethargic, off-the-cuff vocal and twisting guitar line,
recalls Pavement's poppier work. And "American Pines" offers a respite from
the fractured verses thanks to Henderson's most transparent couplet:
"Languished in a desolate town/ It was the worst that I've found," he sings
just before the song launches into a paroxsym of noodling that'd actually
make Stephen Malkmus smile. Let's hope the line is reference to his Alabama
days, as we'd rather not lose these guys. Henderson returns to cryptic
lyrical fragments for "Paper Hornet Parade," Jason Briggs' keys running
circles around Bryan Cabler's stutter-step percussion.
Shower's clean production and tight songwriting make for a more accessible
listen than previous efforts. Luckily, Western Civ's eccentricities and
spirit come through, translating into a batch of memorable indie rock tunes
that don't forsake the inventiveness of the band's influences.
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Inkblot Candor ( 2:04)
02. Capitol Steps ( 4:35)
03. The Disturbing Presence of Chachi ( 3:04)
04. I Am A Waterfall! ( 3:16)
05. American Pines ( 6:46)
06. Tuesday ( 3:26)
07. Travel Song ( 2:26)
08. Rally ( 3:33)
09. Paper Hornet Parade ( 3:49)
10. KGP ( 6:54)
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -