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DEAD LEAF ECHO - FAINT VIOLET WHIFF
Clean / Poison Lips / Walking Away / Shell Of Love / Denial / Shell Of Love (Invisible Kid Remix)
YEAR OF THE GALLON RECORDS
New York outfit Dead Leaf Echo are a band making music that is dense and claustrophobic; spaced out guitar jams and prog rock leanings set against deeply drawled vocal melodies and spouts of inspired poetic lyricism.
On the bands debut album FAINT VIOLET WHIFF; we find Dead Leaf Echo delving deeper into the sonic murk, a collage of dense goth rock that brings together elements of The Cure, Echo And The Bunnymen and U2. This is an album of songs that introduce Dead Leaf Echo as a band to take seriously, spiralling guitar jams pepper proceedings and give it that complex wall of sound effect that comes on like The Cure scrapping it out with U2.
It is in fact exactly this combination that colours POISON LIPS, a song with chiming guitar parts reminiscent of U2s New Years Day whilst the dark melodicism suggests Disintegration era The Cure. The more aggressively pitched WALKING AWAY finds vocalist LG letting loose with a punk howl that brings to mind Ian Mackaye, jagged guitar chords and frenetic drum patterns adding to the sense of unbridled chaos on display. A more tender side is exhibited with the dreamlike SHELL OF LOVE, seasick guitar work and angelic female backing vocals courtesy of Liza Baker giving Dead Leaf Echo that extra special glimmer of class and distinction.
Making strides into a more psychedelic realm, DENIAL is a Pink Floydian excursion of shimmering guitar work and suspended ambient washes; a hazy slice of dense psychedelia, a seven minute plus journey into Dead Leaf Echo's dark and claustrophobic worldview, a song as mesmerising and compelling as it is soft and dreamlike. Closing up with an INVISIBLE KID REMIX of SHELL OF LOVE, Dead Leaf Echo prove themselves capable of even further musical excursion, building on the original version to reach somewhere even more intoxicating and intriguing.
A complex and densely layered record, FAINT VIOLET WHIFF makes for a satisfying and intriguing listen. Dead Leaf Echo have delivered an album to delight and entrance, an impressively rich sounding experience, this is a band on grandiose form.
BIOGRAPHY
Dead Leaf Echo has waited a long time to bring you their music. On their debut album-Faint Violet Whiff they bring you something that has influenced them from both the worlds of music and literature. When listening to DLE you may instantly hear the alternative/new wave sounds of the 80s and 90s drawn into their world. U2 and the Bunnymen have often been cited as influences, yet the famous Russian author Nabakov plays an even larger role in what this band has become. Obvious references from his most famous book Lolita are what make up the name and album, but "it goes beyond that {the dark humor} that makes up the bulk of the the lyrics and the music to these collection of songs says-LG, singer, guitarist and songwriter for the band. Partially a concept album, which plays with themes of young lust, power and hatred, revolving around the characters of Humbert and Dolores Haze. The songs move around different realizations from the 1st person perspective and then begin to crumble under their weight of their desires and delusions. LG formed the band after composing a 3 song demo over the winter of 2005 in his tiny bedroom in Manhattan Valley. The songs were all done on a 4-track recorder and then passed around at local bars. Others came and a stripclub offered their lounge as place to perform. Now a year later, Dead Leaf Echo has evolved with new members, and returned from the studio with their 1st album- "Faint Violet Whiff" to be released on Year of the Gallon Records in August of 2006. Mixed by Jeff Thall (John Cale,Bryan Ferry,Swimmer) and mastered by Fred Kevorkian (White Stripes,Walkmen,Iggy Pop) it was recorded at 111 (Alexa Ray Joel, Torture Sermon) and A Bloody Good Record studios. It features 6 songs of the desperation and desires of man incarnate. Also featured on the album will be a remix by The Invisible Kid (Sneaker Pimps,Elika,Soundpool) and an old super 8 video for the song "Walking Away"
LINE UP
LG
MD
Liza B
Donovan
DISCOGRAPHY
FAINT VIOLET WHIFF (Year Of The Gallon Records>2006)
Clean
Poison Lips
Walking Away
Shell Of Love
Denial
Shell Of Love (Invisible Kid Remix)
LINKS
Dead Leaf Echo>www.deadleafechonyc.com
FURTHER LISTENING
The Cure
U2
Fugazi
Review date: February 2007 |
