Cymbals Eat Guitars

January 23, 2009

Out of all the new band’s I’ve heard this year, I think Cymbals Eat Guitars have the best shot of making it big.  Charles Bissell from the Wrens, who knows a thing or two about this kind of thing, agrees.  He recently said of the New York band, after listening to their self-released debut album, Why There Are Mountains, that they “will end up indie famous within the year”, which should be enough for any self-respecting indie-rock-lover to give it a listen.  The band’s sound is hugely ambitious, explosively energetic force of nature that is clearly influenced by a multitude of 90’s indie rock classics from Pavement to Built to Spill to Modest Mouse while still achieving something that is forward-looking and unpredictable.

The songs are loaded with a mixture of dueling guitars, powerful trumpets, and ornate piano that brilliantly combine with the ragged vocals of Joseph Ferocious which impulsively jump from a melodic croon to an angst-ridden yelp throughout the songs.  The best sample I can give you of the band is “Wind Phoenix”. The track begins with a playful bass line and triumphant horns and bells that hook you immediately before taking a mid-song turn towards epic, sweeping guitar wankery territory.  The song casually leads you back to the melodic, though, providing a wonderful bookend for the track.

“Share” is another spell-binding song, a slow burner that starts out sounding remarkably similar to Broken Social Scene’s more atmospheric work. This all builds to a cathartic, rousing ending that is simply a frickin’ incredible piece of music that gets better on each listen. I know it’s early in the year, but I’m thinking that 2009 will really have work hard to produce a better debut album then this one. Truly mind-blowing stuff.  My advice for you: download this immediately, this is a band you can’t afford to miss out on.

MP3 Wind Phoenix
MP3 Share

Read more rave reviews at You Ain’t No Picasso, Obscure Sound, and  MP3hugger.

Posted by Taylor in Artist Spotlight