Dear and Glorious Physician
Self-titled CD
New Granada
Genre: indie rock
July 11 2008 |
Four blonde siblings comprise this Floridian rock band,
and they spend the
thirty minute duration of this self-titled album showing off their
training in pop-hook-ology. Dear and Glorious Physician�s songs exude
energy and tension, yet they've injected all that noise with a more-than-healthy
dose of melody. Nowhere is this better exhibited than in the opening
track, �Spooky Action.� A brooding beginning bursts open into a
menacing post-punk anthem; Jillian Westfall�s sweet but sad vocals
take the song to a whole new level, and the blistering guitar charge
that concludes the chorus lends the track a nice Pixies vibe.
The rest of the disc doesn�t live up to the benchmark established
by track one, although a similar formula keeps the proceedings
consistently entertaining. Among the highlights are uplifting �A
Winter Machine� and gritty �I Do Not Think We Are Beyond the Old
Mistakes�. Meanwhile, album centerpiece �Frenzy (What Happened Then)�
boasts some solid hooks and a lovely sense of urgency, but ends up a
tad too long for its own good. Some tracks, like �Memento Mori� and
�Kulblai Khan� [sic], are a bit dry melodically, although the album�s
overall momentum tends to buffer the impact of these weaker moments. The end result, then, is a very impressive debut album that
proves the spirit of indie rock
is alive and well. Nicely done.
dear
+ glorious physician's myspace
81%
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 9 tracks, distributed by
the
label,
released 2007] |
