The Lonelyhearts: Dispatch; DIY records.
Indie pop with alt-country leanings. Acoustic guitar strumming with rich male vocals. Interesting surrealistic lyrics at times. Decent amounts of synth and organ, but doesn’t drown in syrup. Piano chords romp through most songs. Thoroughly melancholy, but beautiful in limited doses. Best tracks #1, 2, 10
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1) “Next Year is Shaping Up to Be Real Awesome” –slow piano, gentle strumming and warm singing. Sedate and heavy. Grows with vocal harmonies.
2) “The Museum of Tolerance” –Gentle strumming and lonely vocals. Full bodied with organ and synth horns in chorus. Tsunami siren thingie wails in background, (similar effect as singing saw in “Aeroplane Over the Sea”).
3) “Walk the Miles” –synth plays over bright piano and guitar.
4) “Halo” –Starts with electric organ drone, before guitar strumming starts. Dark intensity.
5) “When Kings Fought in Their Own Wars” –Standard guitar-strumming-rock-ballad until 1:40ish, when synth adds some depth.
6) “Patriot Axe” –apocalyptic anti-war protest song. Sedate anger.
7) “Grove Street” –Beautiful harmony. Folk piece.
8) “Ntozake Nelson” –expressive vocal melody and lyrics. Standard acoustic guitar. Best track.
9) “Sell the House, the Car, the Kids…I’m Not Coming Back” –gruff male vocals. Cookie-cutter AOR strumming. Cool electronic organ melody at end.
10) “The Loneliest Boy in the State of Nevada” –begins with spacey reverberating noises. Gentle strumming and electric guitar. Humorous and pathetic frustrated youth lyrics.
11) “Seasons Past” –simple piano, quiet horn, acoustic finger picking. Strong male vocals, with cool round/harmony section. Singing is dominant, and holds up well with the lack of instrumentation.