The Exeter Popes
"Snow, Mountain, Geisha" CDEP
White
Shoe Records
Genre: indie pop, indie rock, lo-fi
May 2007 |
Snow, Mountain, Geisha is the second EP out
of Stephen Lipuma's Exeter Popes project, following a
solid debut that I reviewed favourably. This time around he's
recruited a few more people to his band, making for another solid pop
outing rife with Smiths and For Against influences.
Lipuma has that sort of glazed, passive vocal style used by his
influences, which adds a sort of icy, detached feel to these five
songs, notably on "Letter from Mr. Smith." Coupled with the ploddingly
melodic compositions, this EP can be a bit disturbing for fans of more
overt pop music. This effect is not a bad thing - though at times it
could be tightened up a bit to add more of the tension present in
works by For Against and co. The best song on here is the
uplifting "50 Days," with its blissful melody and persistent momentum.
However, the spiny guitar chords of "Bristol Takes Arms" and the
joyful release of "Bombs...Bombs...Bombs" give "50" as run for its
money. Snow, Mountain, Geisha is nice work again from the
Popes - if Lipuma can tighten up his sound a tad, his debut
full-length could be quite a wonder.
the
exeter popes' myspace
80%
youuuuuuuutube!:
video for "50 days",
live song (not on this cd)
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 5 tracks,
13:23,
distributed by
CD Baby,
released 2007] |
