Brief
Candles
Self-titled CD
Silent
Film Soundtracks
Genres: shoegazer, dream pop, indie rock
Brief Candles
PO Box 10641
Peoria IL 60641
May 24 - 30 2004 |
Though they do sing, much of Brief Candles' focus is not on vocals. Like many shoegazer acts, they direct
most of their
attention to the guitars, which are modified by heavy use of effects
and feedback. Their compositional style is heavily influenced by the
usual suspects - My Bloody Valentine, Jesus and Mary Chain,
etc. - but they utilize a considerably more modern approach.
The best songs on this self-titled debut are those that take a more
melodic approach - "On Sunday" and "All My Gates"
are both beautiful indie rock tunes, floating in feedback haze and
brimming in monumental, lyric-based melodies. Although there is
better, similar shoegazer out there, Brief Candles make for a
strong diversion nonetheless. However, "Bernadette," a
bland, instrumental opener, will wear down on the disc's ability to
sustain most listeners' attention spans and get into the record
- I think this disc would work better without an intro. The stunning
finale makes up for this, fortunately; "Castaway" is the disc's
penultimate track - its combination of pop sensitivity and explosive
guitar theatrics is truly incredible.
This isn't a spectacular debut, but it is still a very solid disc
of blissed-out, spacey rock music. Brief Candles make for the
perfect treat, so long as you aren't allergic to heavy use of guitar
effects.
84%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 7 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2003] |