White Cascade's 2010 debut EP offered a promising sample of swirling shoegaze guitars and droning rock soundscapes, steadily balancing post-rock heft and prickly fuzz. Two years later, with a functionally named collection EP2, White Cascade retains but a shadow of that debut's amplifier worship.
The Raleigh trio's marked stylistic shifts are most obvious at EP2's fore and aft, the opener "30 Seconds" and finale "Again and Again." The former is a sonically lean eight-minute drive of Motorik momentum, countered by serpentine guitar lines and frontman Matt Guess' vocals, which jut out only far enough to be swept off in a gust of echoes. The effect is that of the crisp but spacey sort of psych-rock not unlike Moon Duo's. "Again and Again" is a moody synth-pop trip, suggesting Soft Cell and John Carpenter.
Between the EP's bookends, the territory isn't so foreign. Here, the band keeps the murk but recasts it. "You Got It" plays like a waterlogged Toro Y Moi, dipping electro-funk into puddles of clean, ringing guitar chords, while "Candy" can trace its blurry, bleary pop lineage to The Jesus and Mary Chain. In all of these molds, though, White Cascade is following that painful rule of creativity—cheerily discarding the past to try something new. That, if nothing else, is worth appreciating.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
- To create paragraphs in your comment, type <p> at the start of a paragraph and </p> at the end of each paragraph.
- To create bold text, type <b>bolded text</b> (please note the closing tag, </b>).
- To create italicized text, type <i>italicized text</i> (please note the closing tag, </i>).
- Proper web addresses will automatically become links.
Latest in Record Review
-
Various artists' Waste of Time: A Tribute to Paint Fumes
Friday & Saturday at Slim's
- May 15, 2013
-
Bevel Summers' The Cards
The Carrboro band's first full-length, a magpie collection featuring more voices, new instruments and a wider palette of influences, is united by a keen sense of songcraft.
- May 8, 2013
-
LiLa's IV
LiLa's IV has some soul packed in the places you'd least expect.
- Apr 24, 2013
- More »
More by Bryan C. Reed
-
Raleigh hardcore bands Last Words and Abuse. ready new LPs for To Live a Lie Records
After nearly 100 releases, To Live a Lie expands its local roster.
- May 9, 2013
-
Wavves, washing onto the shore of the Alternative Nation
Afraid of Heights, Wavves' fourth album and major-label debut, makes the band more palatable and layered without diluting its snot-nosed charm.
- Apr 10, 2013
- More »
