Black Sheep Boy Appendix

Dramatic indie pop. Lo-fi influenced, but with a full sound. Apparently this album is a reimagining of their previous album's themes & mythos, after listening to this, I wish I was more familiar with that record. This is an amazing little EP that is not lo-fi, but evokes and trumps almost every lo-fi band you can imagine -- the Decemberists turned up to 11, Neutral Milk Hotel recorded in hi-fi, Bright Eyes if he wasn't so annoying. Somehow the lead singer reminds me of early U2/Bono as well -- reaching, haunting, purposeful, full of sublimated anger. If you pay attention to yrics, these songs all tell stories. Every vocal track a gem. FCC Clean. Picks: 2, 5.

--Wicked Child

1) Amazing other-worldly intro, vocals with long sustained organ and violin. Toy piano outro. Slow. (fairy tale monologue) (3:04)
***2) Immediate rolling guitars, no introduction. Swaggering vocals, that become desperate at the end. (3:00)
3) Mournful violin atmospherics. no vox. (0:51)
4) Slow. Bright-eyes vocals, female vox accompaniment. Folky, lo-fi. Full folk instrumentation, harmonica, piano, violin. Fake-out ending at 4:52.(5:23)
***5) Starts subdued and lo-fi, gets surprisingly angry and loud by the end. Bright Eyes-esuqe vocals, they're strained and pained, but he's still singing in his range. Nearly growling with anger at the end. (4:59)
6) Starts off with skittering watery chime rhythm, expecting full-blown glitch, instead it's just static with bass and indecipherable vocals. (1:24)
7) Strutting guitar, kindof like a Decemberists song done hard. Handclaps, horns, surprisingly standard pop structure/feel. 1min of fading guitars at end. (6:00)