Them Are Us Too
The other album that I've been listening to this past week or so comes via a recommendation (OK, a tweet then) from Dee Dee Penny, who frankly - in matters such as this - you'd be crazy to ignore advice from... Them Are Us Too are Bay Area residents Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning and Cash Askew who met at USC Santa Cruz (a town probably best known for its boardwalk amusement park) and whose debut album "Remain" slipped under the radar earlier this year.
So my first thought when I fired up the opening track "Eudaemonia" was - after 30 seconds or so of some serious industrial synths and loops subsided - as Kennedy's voice took centre-stage was fucking hell... Having listened to this album several times (and if you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know by now that I only have one audio control setting - auto-repeat) is still fucking hell...
To say that Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning has one of the most crystalline voices I've heard for a while and possesses a vocal range and clarity that immediately draws comparison with Elizabeth Fraser would be a mastery of understatement. Even Mrs Blog - who has put up with my musical whims - asked whether I was listening to the Cocteau Twins... However, while there are definite hints of Cocteau-ism, you can throw Shoegaze and a whole plethora of early 80s 4AD bands - think Bauhaus, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox - whom the pair have recently supported - and This Mortal Coil into the mix. "Eudaemonia" is as good a slab of dreamy synth-rock as I've heard this year (which includes Milk & Bone's stunning debut "Little Mourning" - so high praise indeed). Apparently 'eudaemonia' is Greek for happiness and well-being. After listening to this track I'd say that's pretty apt!
"The problem with redheads" is yet another atmospheric slice of dreamy synth-rock (the term "pop" just doesn't seem to do the track justice). And while once again there are hints of Cocteau Twins inspired celestial wondrousness - particularly the way in which Kennedy's vocals magically float above layers upon layers of textural synths, not to mention the sweeping and soaring Coda, resplendent with swirling synths and nods to Robin Guthrie... But Them are Us Too are far more than a tribute band. There's something organic here. The songs - and there may only be eight on this album, but nevertheless they weigh in at a none-too-shabby forty minutes - are incredibly well crafted with a noticeable substance and depth.
"Us now" again features dark, industrial synths that perfectly counterpoise the operatic quality of the vocals. It's yet another exceptional dreamy, synth-infused number with a stunning surround sound of a soaring middle-eight and another impressive Coda (this pair do outros big time). Again the song seamlessly welds elements of old and new with such methodical detail that I get the distinct impression that Kennedy and Cash are disciples of the "moderne c'est déjà vieux" movement.
Kennedy's operatic vocal qualities are actually at their most imperious on "Marilyn". There's some deep rib-cage rattling bass here - before settling down into a Cure-influenced groove as the mood lightens and Kennedy's voice literally soars above the clouds, contrasting vividly with Cash's muddied and buried vocals during the song's darker middle third. There are Cure-like influences apparent on "694 MI", featuring as it does the most scratchy of guitars since The Cure's "Close to me" not to mention pedal-to-the-metal chugging reverb that I half-expect to break out into Johnny Marr's god-like riff from "How soon is now?" It's probably the most straight-up rock-song on the album and there are some strident cojones in the accompanying vocals that ensure they don't get washed out in the mix. The song ably demonstrates that the pair can turn their hand to more guitar-orientated dreamy shoegaze sound. Indeed "Creepy love" - with a gorgeous Joy Division / early-New Order bass riff - is anything but, before the song adds rich swirling keys and those sublime vocals once again seduce.
However, the duo make use of sparseness. While "False moon" features a deeply resonant guitar, it's the absence of layered instruments that forces focus on the vocals, which are gorgeously multi-tracked in places. Once again the song's ending is gloriously dream-like. It's almost my favourite track... However, it is the album's closing number, "Fall" - that on an album choc-full of haunting and atmospheric songs - is the most achingly beautiful and which I'd strongly argue is the best track on a frighteningly and consistently good album. If you've ever listened to This Mortal Coil's "It'll End in Tears" and Elizabeth Fraser's evocative rendition of "Song to the Siren", you'll know what a stunning (if not the most stunning) vocal performances she delivers. So now I'm going to tell you that Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning delivers a vocal performance as memorable as that of some 21 years ago. It is frighteningly good. It's also sobering to think that as I left the Aladdin's Cave that was 'The Beat Goes On' record shop on Cambridge's Regent Street, clutching a copy of the aforementioned "It'll End in Tears", this incredibly talented duo were only just born...
"Remain" is as good a debut album as I think I've heard this year - it's definitely Yearlist material - and with it marks Them Are Us Too as a band to watch out for. They're definitely on my 'must see list' the next time they play any of my favourite go to venues...
Them Are Us Too Website
"Remain" (Dais Records), (iTunes)
So my first thought when I fired up the opening track "Eudaemonia" was - after 30 seconds or so of some serious industrial synths and loops subsided - as Kennedy's voice took centre-stage was fucking hell... Having listened to this album several times (and if you're a regular reader of this blog you'll know by now that I only have one audio control setting - auto-repeat) is still fucking hell...
To say that Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning has one of the most crystalline voices I've heard for a while and possesses a vocal range and clarity that immediately draws comparison with Elizabeth Fraser would be a mastery of understatement. Even Mrs Blog - who has put up with my musical whims - asked whether I was listening to the Cocteau Twins... However, while there are definite hints of Cocteau-ism, you can throw Shoegaze and a whole plethora of early 80s 4AD bands - think Bauhaus, Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox - whom the pair have recently supported - and This Mortal Coil into the mix. "Eudaemonia" is as good a slab of dreamy synth-rock as I've heard this year (which includes Milk & Bone's stunning debut "Little Mourning" - so high praise indeed). Apparently 'eudaemonia' is Greek for happiness and well-being. After listening to this track I'd say that's pretty apt!
"The problem with redheads" is yet another atmospheric slice of dreamy synth-rock (the term "pop" just doesn't seem to do the track justice). And while once again there are hints of Cocteau Twins inspired celestial wondrousness - particularly the way in which Kennedy's vocals magically float above layers upon layers of textural synths, not to mention the sweeping and soaring Coda, resplendent with swirling synths and nods to Robin Guthrie... But Them are Us Too are far more than a tribute band. There's something organic here. The songs - and there may only be eight on this album, but nevertheless they weigh in at a none-too-shabby forty minutes - are incredibly well crafted with a noticeable substance and depth.
"Us now" again features dark, industrial synths that perfectly counterpoise the operatic quality of the vocals. It's yet another exceptional dreamy, synth-infused number with a stunning surround sound of a soaring middle-eight and another impressive Coda (this pair do outros big time). Again the song seamlessly welds elements of old and new with such methodical detail that I get the distinct impression that Kennedy and Cash are disciples of the "moderne c'est déjà vieux" movement.
Kennedy's operatic vocal qualities are actually at their most imperious on "Marilyn". There's some deep rib-cage rattling bass here - before settling down into a Cure-influenced groove as the mood lightens and Kennedy's voice literally soars above the clouds, contrasting vividly with Cash's muddied and buried vocals during the song's darker middle third. There are Cure-like influences apparent on "694 MI", featuring as it does the most scratchy of guitars since The Cure's "Close to me" not to mention pedal-to-the-metal chugging reverb that I half-expect to break out into Johnny Marr's god-like riff from "How soon is now?" It's probably the most straight-up rock-song on the album and there are some strident cojones in the accompanying vocals that ensure they don't get washed out in the mix. The song ably demonstrates that the pair can turn their hand to more guitar-orientated dreamy shoegaze sound. Indeed "Creepy love" - with a gorgeous Joy Division / early-New Order bass riff - is anything but, before the song adds rich swirling keys and those sublime vocals once again seduce.
However, the duo make use of sparseness. While "False moon" features a deeply resonant guitar, it's the absence of layered instruments that forces focus on the vocals, which are gorgeously multi-tracked in places. Once again the song's ending is gloriously dream-like. It's almost my favourite track... However, it is the album's closing number, "Fall" - that on an album choc-full of haunting and atmospheric songs - is the most achingly beautiful and which I'd strongly argue is the best track on a frighteningly and consistently good album. If you've ever listened to This Mortal Coil's "It'll End in Tears" and Elizabeth Fraser's evocative rendition of "Song to the Siren", you'll know what a stunning (if not the most stunning) vocal performances she delivers. So now I'm going to tell you that Kennedy Ashlyn Wenning delivers a vocal performance as memorable as that of some 21 years ago. It is frighteningly good. It's also sobering to think that as I left the Aladdin's Cave that was 'The Beat Goes On' record shop on Cambridge's Regent Street, clutching a copy of the aforementioned "It'll End in Tears", this incredibly talented duo were only just born...
"Remain" is as good a debut album as I think I've heard this year - it's definitely Yearlist material - and with it marks Them Are Us Too as a band to watch out for. They're definitely on my 'must see list' the next time they play any of my favourite go to venues...
Them Are Us Too Website
"Remain" (Dais Records), (iTunes)
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