姓名： TheFarewellCircuit 英文名：- 性别：- 国籍：- 出生地：- 语言：- 生日：- 星座：- 身高：- 体重：-
An indie pop band out of Minnesota, The Farewell Circuit has spent a fair bit of time in the studio and have released two independent projects in the past year: Birdless Sky (LP, 2009), and Brother’s Eyes (EP, 2010). I listened to each this weekend in chronological order and was pleasantly surprised.
Birdless Sky opens strongly with The Inexorable March of Time (hereafter, TIMOT). ”Come out swinging” is a rule that I follow when assembling a mix, and one to which many bands adhere when developing an album. There’s another thing about this rule, “Don’t tap yourself out in the first song.” TIMOT is very good. A lot of bands would give their (insert any body part from your left side) to compose and record something like TIMOT. Any concerns I held related to starting too strongly were completely alleviated by the next track, Good Winter (Run, Run, Run), which is more up-tempo and nearly as good as TIMOT. Other tracks that stand out are We Usually Get Up, Like A House on Fire, and The Things We Lost. At times on Birdless Sky, the Farewell Circuit are reminiscent of one of their influences, Radiohead. Tracks like Salt, Short Term Memory, and The Bottle are all decent, but not Radiohead. That observation is not meant to pigeon hole or unfairly criticize their work. If anything, it suggests their capacity to develop thoughtful, multi-faceted music that occupies big spaces comfortably. In fact, If You Go, the only track that resembles a rocker on the album, is the single track through which The Farewell Circuit seems to struggle. The closer, We Usually Get Up, represents an optimism we must adopt when dealing with failure or tough times. Toward the end of this song, you hear someone mutter, “That’s good.” I can’t think of a better way to describe this debut LP from the Farewell Circuit. Birdless Sky is a strong effort, one worth acquiring. It shows a great deal of depth and talent on the part of this young band.
If Birdless Sky demonstrates The Farewell Circuit’s promise, Brother’s Eyes is evidence of its growth. While a departure from the subtle arrangement intricacies found on TIMOT, I’m A Ghost, is a great single that has Farewell Circuit sounding more confident and pronounced than on any track from the previous album. Exodus is equally striking–stripped down and full of resolve with it’s echoing chorus, “We can choose to follow or we can choose to stay.” The other tracks on this EP (Brother’s Eyes, An Apparition’s Lullaby, and The Iron Cheer of Empire) reflect a distinct sound–one that is their’s and not one of their influences. While not as polished, these tracks also sound more confident and stronger than those found on Birdless Sky. What is remarkable about Brother’s Eyes is that it was released 8 months after Birdless Sky, but reflects substantial growth and begins to fulfill the promise cultivated in its predecessor. This is a band worth getting to know.
As an aside, a trend I have observed over the past decade is the presence of multi-instrumentalists in bands, and this band has two: DJ House and Danny O’Brien. House and O’Brien provide the subtle intricacies of their sound, while Geoff Hartnell does a great job of driving the tempo and rhythm on drums and percussion. Outside of this trio, they also feature the talents of George Hadfield, Alex Young, & Dan Lawonn (I wish I had some liner notes!). The result of their collective efforts are beautiful, complex arrangements that are accessible as they are original.
