OFFICIAL: http://dustofdays.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/dustofdays/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/dustofdays
Written
by Frank McClure, posted by blog admin
Analog
Mind Bender, four years in the making, reaffirms the potential exhibited on the
band’s first two releases 2012’s Thomas & Grace followed by the 2013 EP
Ethers and Embers. The twelve song collection makes the case that Frank
Lettieri Jr.’s songwriting has benefitted from a quantum leap forward that’s
allowed the band to expand its sonic palette into previously unimaginable
realms. This isn’t a band content to memorize a couple of successful formulas
and then milk them for an indeterminate time. Instead, Dust of Days aims to
leave behind lasting work that entertains while making enduring statements
about the life behind the work and the times in which we live. The production
gives it an impetus it might otherwise lack and gives each of the four players
a platform from which their talents and contributions to the band’s music can
be rightly appreciated. Analog Mind Bender is a powerful release all around.
The
album begins on a high note thanks to the buoyant energy lifting “Analog Mind
Bender” off the ground. It’s an effective title song for multiple reasons but
one key factor in its effectiveness is how it gives listeners, in retrospect, a
template for what they can expect from much of the album. There’s some
delicious mischief in that as well because if you lock into this song’s lightly
melodic push as indicative of the band’s work as a whole, you’re in for a
surprise. That tweaking of expectations commences, really, with the next song.
The title song doesn’t prepare you for the aggression and seething intensity of
“Aurora” – few songs on Analog Mind Bender are nearly as abrasive and muscular.
Lettieri’s swing between spoken vocals and straight singing further sets it
apart from the first song. “Mustang” delivers yet another stylistic turn, this
one much sharper than the one preceding it. This performance shows their talent
for invoking atmospherics and Lettieri drives it all home with an achingly
emotive vocal.
“My
Dear” mines similar territory but has, if possible, even more emphasis on
atmospherics than what we hear in the aforementioned tune. It certainly builds
to stronger, far more outright crescendos than the sometimes diffuse “Mustang”
and the guitar playing from Jim McGee and Mike Virok brings a lot to the final
result. “Death Vibrations” is a hard-hitting rock song half masqueraded as a
punk rock tune and Lettieri gives the fine lyrics a particularly punchy
reading. Some of the guitar work in this song is quite tuneful while still
retaining an aggressive, jagged edge. “Porcelain” takes the direction in both “Mustang”
and “My Dear” and offers us Analog Mind Bender’s most dramatic and thoughtful
song yet. The fact that Lettieri and his cohorts are able to invoke such
feeling and color within a relatively brief space of time is nothing short of
miraculous during this performance. “The Shore” and “Ghosts” end the album with
more surprises. The first song is carried by piano, strings, and Lettieri’s
voice manifesting yet another side for listeners. The intimacy and naked
vulnerability of the song is astonishing considering some of the bluster
preceding it. Analog Mind Bender’s final track, “Ghosts”, is easily the album’s
most structurally experimental moment as the song is split into two very
different halves that, nonetheless, possess themes and imagery that neatly
dovetail into one another. The four year wait has been worth it. Dust of Days
are continuing their near inevitable ascent to the upper echelon of modern rock
acts with the release of this album and
we can rest assured there’s more to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment