Garden Of Arms

Peter Wolf Crier/ “Garden of Arms” / Jagjaguwar

Second album after a long touring season. Heavy use of synthesized instruments and drum kits, often with guitar. Male distinct tenor vocals showcased pretty prominently. His pushing his voice to higher volumes + inflections are a bit reminiscent of a less gritty Bright Eyes (maybe I’m thinking “Digital Ash in a Digital Urn” given the synth-pop comparison too). Songs are a bit scattered in style, but not a bad track on the album.
No FCCs detected. Favorites include: 1, 6, 9

1. *3:08 Synthesized looped piano, great beat, layered vocals. Second half mostly instrumental. Nice opener.
2. 3:09 Clean guitar over drum kit, layered vocals. Beat comes in later, fairly standard.
3. 2:31 Synths, with vocals taking center stage. Sparse beat.
4. 3:07 Much more rock feel, repetitive electric guitar. Ends a bit suddenly.
5. 4:38 Strummed melancholy guitar, song builds a bit with drums and synths.
6. *4:41 Big midtempo beat from the start, guitars, fast vocals. Beat gets layered halfway through, though song goes a bit long.
7. 3:53 Electric guitars, consistent beat, layered “ah ah”s sung in chorus and end, nice.
8. 3:07 High-pitched loop synth in background, big piano chords, slower loud drums.
9. *2:04 Looped synth melody, nice chord combinations – use of selective drumming nice, fast pace contrasted with some dark chords.
10. 3:35 Slower, sparser, kind of like their attempt at a typical longing love song. Last 45 seconds mostly dragging muted instrumental. Last 7 seconds no sound.
11. 3:38 Gorgeous beginning of swirling synths with beat coming in. Sounds a bit like Jonsi. Song mostly consists of layered high vocals alone with a beat. One of the more experimental tracks.
Deniz Cebenoyan