The Evening Descends in the first track on the unclassifiable recent release from Evangelicals, on the Dead Oceans label. From the title track, which starts off as shoegazer, stumbles awkwardly through a calliope of carnival hiccups, and ends with a spot of twee, the record throws you up against a phonic wall and never lets you go. Channeling all the best genres rock has ever offered—a diverse pastiche including goth, psychedelia, indie, glam, prog, and emo, recalling The Flaming Lips, The Darkness, The Cure, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, and countless others--Evangelicals seem ready to take the throne for the most inventive band of 2008.
"Skeleton Man," which ends in a cymbal-crashing, repeated scream, "Someone loves you very much! Someone loves you very much!", is my favorite cut on the album. And that’s saying a lot, because there’s many winners here. The aptly titled “Stoned Again” features distant, foggy vocals under a Doors-like keyboard riff and a swirling mass of unidentifiable texture. Every track is full of ambition, and there’s no filler whatsoever.
Overall, "The Evening Descends" is one of my favorite releases of the year so far. I know it’s early in the year, but the intricate guitar work, excellent vocals, and flawless compositions just about guarantee this band a place on my end-of-the-year list.
Skeleton Man
And from an earlier release:
Here Comes Trouble [from the So Gone LP]
Note: Reprinted from my old site
