Dreamy California sound meets-Brit-pop (and more!) band from Bakersfield, CA. Subtle production touches. Lovelorn album. Lead male vox are unusual-sounding, bordering on nasal-y, but it’s something more than that. 2 band members are brothers. Guests on album sometimes bring female vox, brass instruments, and strings. Band knows Aaron Ruell (“Kip” in the movie Napoleon Dynamite) - woman on cover is Yuka Ruell, Aaron’s real-life wife and Uncle Rico’s girlfriend at the end of the movie. Crazy. PLAY ALL SONGS. GORGEOUS.
1)*“Clarrisa, Dear” (4:06). Slow and pretty, about missed love. Spurts of delays and distortions. Short dreamy keyboard intro. Then dreamy bass and high hat drums, echo-y guitar. 0:23 slightly nasal-y vox, slight fake British accent. 0:51 focus on guitar melody. 1:50 song gets a bit more rockin’. End at 4:02.
2) “Cotty’s House” (4:29). Mid-tempo, smooth and synth-laden. Some faint zoo-y keyboard in background. Vox 0:30. 1:10 harmonized male backup vox, in addition to guest female backup vox.
3)*“A Place To Call Our Home” (4:58). Gentle brass in addition to rest of band (including keyboards). Layered with own vox at some points. Some female backup vox. End 4:55.
4)*“Tiffy” (4:05). A bit faster. Male vox immediately with slight echo-y guitar and bass. 0:10 drums in. 0:25 accordion-sounding keyboards. Nice contrast between faster-tempo lead male vox and slow female backup vox. 1:50 dreamy guitar back. 2:15 the keys take center-stage.
5) “Penalty Crusade” (5:23). Quiet. Focus on male vox, echo-y female backup vox. Gentle guitar in background. End 5:18.
6)*“Given Everything” (4:52). Slight rush of ocean/wind along with wistful guitar and bass. 0:20 vox and gentle percussion in. 2:15 single-key keyboard melody in background. End 4:45.
7) “Ice Capades” (5:13). Takes a few seconds for song to kick up to full volume. Spoken male narration over strummy, gentle guitar. 0:40 echo-y male vox alternate with spoken vox. 1:15 xylophone sounds from synthesizer. About heartbroken Olympian figure skater. End 5:07.
8) “Lot’s Youngest Daughter” (3:28). Mid-tempo. Focus on echo-y male vox. Can hear acoustic folk roots in this song. 0:30 song picks up tempo. End 3:23.
9)*“How Can I Explain?” (3:58). Gently catchy. More prominent piano-sounding keyboards in addition to rest of band. 0:25 male vox enter. Strings and female backup vox. Abruptly quieter at 3:48 - end soon after that.
10)*“Elected To Tell You” (5:19). Slow, starker on instrumentation (guitar, vox, trumpet), but not less rich. Gentle melody coupled with harsh/tender lyrics. 0:08 song really starts. Gentle brass in background, which nicely crescendos with vox. End 5:13.
11)*“Marriage Arranged” (4:24). Pretty acoustic intro. Switches to chords at 0:20, vox 0:34. Flashes of distortions and delays: 1:00 rest of band comes in after a nicely timed pause. 1:56 focus on slightly distorted guitar, also after a pause. 3:03 spurt of harpsichord-sounding synth over otherwise gentle section. 4:16 ends with short, echo-y male voice sample.
-margot