Back in 2014, when I wrote about Overlake's Sighs for United By Rocket Science, I referenced Hal Hartley movies and just generally talked about the way Overlake are able to get images rolling through my brain. The band are back with Fall, and that cinematic, visual quality to their particular brand of shoegaze / dream pop is on full display.
In its first few seconds, opener "Unnamed November" recalls My Bloody Valentine's "Soon;" but it quickly unfolds itself into something a little more languid than the closest thing mbv ever had to a hit. I had the honor of sharing "Winter Is Why" right here nearly two years ago, and Tom Barrett's opening lead guitar still grabs me. It's a great example of the way in which Overlake pepper their ambient and epic songs with bits that the listener can hold onto. It's that contrast between pop hooks and shoegaze noise that I love so much. The song's dark, cold-weather vibe also stands in contrast to the album's sunny spring release date.
"Can Never Tell" opens with a squall of guitar from Barrett that's quickly bolstered by the rhythm section of Lysa Opfer (bass) and Nick D'Amore (drums). Barrett's quiet verses are punctuated by explosions of colorful sound. The guitar that opens "Gardener's Bell" chimes like a piano or harpsichord, and we think we're in for some National-esque indie rock. The pace accelerates quickly, though, as D'Amore lends machine gun drums until Opfer comes in with a heavenly backing vocal. It's almost like Overlake have invented their own version of Pixies' famous "loud-quiet-loud" approach by being loud, quiet, and loud all at once, in the exact same moment. LOQUUDIELOTUD or something.
"Pines on a Beach" is a nearly eight-minute epic that never overstays its welcome. It combines post-punk, shoegaze, strings, and piano as it manages to take me back to the years I spent living in the often cool and often grey Pacific Northwest where the pines really did rise up from the shoreline.
Overlake opened their first LP with a song called "First," and they close their second with a song called "Goodbye." I get a sense of "Soon" again just as the song begins, but it quickly transforms into a pulsing yet brittle wall of sound and glide guitar.
Overlake worked with Tom Beaujour (Nada Surf, Jennifer O'Connor) who recorded and co-produced Fall. Together, Overlake and Beaujour managed to create another great record that plays almost like a film soundtrack. For me, there are moments that are grey and cold interspersed with colorful fireworks displays. Spend some time with Fall and see what movies it helps you create in your mind.
Fall is out now on Bar/None Records.
Overlake play a release show tonight, May 12th, at Mercury Lounge in New York City with Dead Stars and Heaven.
No comments :
Post a Comment