Desert Noises - Mountain Sea [2011][EAC,log,cue. FLAC]

Artist: Desert Noises
Release: Mountain Sea
Discogs: 3447231
Released: 2011-09-06
Label: Northplatte Records
Catalog#: SR002
Format: FLAC / Lossless / Log (100%) / Cue / CD
Country: US
Style: Rock, Indie Rock

Tracklisting:


CD1. Highway Cars
CD2. Bible Study
CD3. Tell Me You Love Me
CD4. Oak Tree
CD5. Your Wolf
CD6. Hey Ah
CD7. Dressed Like A Ghost
CD8. Up The Mountain
CD9. Smoke Breathing Monsters
CD10. Where I Go

Desert Noises are a four piece group out of Utah who play alternative rock with a heavy dose of folk aesthetic. The group’s alternative folk style might beg an immediate comparison to acts like Fleet Foxes or Local Natives, though Desert Noises also often straddle the gap between moments of pop and even psychedelic rock. Front-man Kyle Henderson has a rich voice with a certain aged quality that adds a touch of melancholy, reflecting the lyrical content. Henderson croons about heartbreak, falling in and out of love, and displays a constant love for evoking simple nature metaphors. On one of the album’s strongest tracks “Oak Tree” we are treated to the album’s title, as he compares a relationship to watching mountains fall into the sea. While the images present on this record always feel very appropriate for what’s going on in the tune, expect the best story-telling when he chooses to express his daily-life; these moments often feel the most genuine, as on “Your Wolf or Bible Study.”

The instrumentals on Mountain Sea are always tastefully playful, with auxiliary instruments occasionally adding richness to these very groovy songs. The guitarists and rhythm section do a wonderful job of creating a sound that’s familiar but a little more aggressively groovy than other similar band’s output. The musicianship is consistently superb, but occasionally the production feels a little too familiar to the point where it’s not doing much for the mostly intriguing songwriting. This is mostly rectified by how much of a progression their sound goes through over the course of the LP — when they do experiment more it pays off gorgeously.

The last few tracks on the album seem to progress both musically and lyrically into something a little freer, as “Dress Like a Ghost” melts into an almost shoegaze-like ending, and “Smoke Breathing Monsters” being the album’s undeniable ballad. Through the whole of Mountain Sea there are well placed, albeit simple, harmonies and a sense of momentum that early releases from bands rarely are able to convey. It’s clear Desert Noises meant to craft an album with a concrete beginning building to an end, but Mountain Sea has me even more excited about where they’ll go next time, as opposed to where we’ve left off here. But for now, Mountain Sea will satiate this desire just fine with it’s pleasant musicianship and deceptively engrossing lyricism.