Thrushes

March 30, 2007

The stuff I get sent in the mail directly from bands is hit-or-miss and often sides on the miss side.  It’s albums like Sun Come Undone from Baltimore-bred Thrushes though, that make it worth opening the mailbox every day.  There’s many bands these days who put shades of both post-rock and shoegaze into their music and Thrushes have seemed to come up with a healthy balance.  They have that element of explosive guitars, rumbling drums and a loud-soft-loud dynamic, but it’s done in a reverb-heavy shoegaze environment.    Another thing going for the band are the beautiful vocals from Anna Connor.  It adds a dreamy quality to the band.

The album starts off perfectly with “Aidan Quinn”, a song which is constantly evolving until the magnificent wall-of-sound ending.    The album also has a very satisfying ending, the band really comes together on both “Roy” and “The Hardest Part”, both songs that are furious enough to leave you feeling awe-struck and emotionally drained.  The only problem I have with the Sun Come Undone is the second track, “Heartbeats”  comes dangerously close to Jesus and Mary Chain’s most popular song “Just Like Honey”.   The guitar lines and drum beats at the beginning are both eerily similar.  The song comes into it’s own within a couple minutes which probably should have been it’s starting point.  Otherwise though, it’s a great listening experience.  Thrushes are a very talented band and Sun Come Undone is an excellent debut for them.

MP3 Aidan Quinn
MP3 The Hardest Part 

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Buy the album 

Posted by Taylor in Artist Spotlight