Departed

Rock... dreamy, dark, minimal. Tracks alternate male and female vocals, usually mixed low. A retrospective of this Boston band that broke up a few years ago, including their second (last) LP plus rarities. Play with Quickspace, Bardo Pond, Ride, Slowdive, Boyracer, Spacemen 3, Joy Division, The Bats, The Velvet Underground. Most tracks end with long, slow fades and some silence. I find their insistent quoting of other artists hard to swallow, but I usually like the music anyway. I think the EP is stronger than the album. FCC clean. Start with Album: 4, 5, 7; EP: 2, 6.

1. Slow and minimal, like slow Bardo Pond or Slowdive. Female vocals.
2. Mid tempo. Male vocals. Ian Curtis fronting Bardo Pond. Gets high energy before ending.
3. Jazzy, mid tempo. Starts with bass guitar. Female vocals.
==> 4. Perky shoegaze... like the poppy side of My Bloody Valentine, but poppier. Male vocals.
==> 5. Rolling, Quickspace-like groove. Druggy female vocals.
6. Sing-songy, rolling shoegaze Male vocals. Like The Bats, except that this isn’t a great song and all of theirs are.
==> 7. Mid-tempo, psychedelic pop. Female vocals. Like the Bats again.
8. Happy shoegaze pop, with accordion. Male vocals.
9. Low-key space lounge. Male vocals. Joy Division does space muzak. Starts with spacey synths. Long track with a very slow fade out.
10. (EP track 1) Mid tempo shoegaze pop. Nice. Female vocals.
==> 11. (EP track 2) Exuberant, dancey spacerock instrumental.
12. (EP track 3) Dreamy, mid tempo. Male vocals.
13. (EP track 4) Jazzy & soporific. Clean bass and distorted guitar. Half-asleep female vocals. Starts with rain sfx.
14. (EP track 5) Live track. Starts & ends with talking. Male vocals. Dark/bright Ian Curtis ballad.
==> 15. (EP track 6) High energy. Female vocals. Great track! Starts with electronic percussion.
16. (EP track 7) Dense & busy, mid tempo ballad with lots of electronics and heavy, muddy bass.