Having previously existed in the shadows of Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and consequently
been deemed just another player in emo's most fertile heartland — Omaha,
Nebraska's Saddle Creek Records — it's no wonder Statistics frontman
and multi-instrumentalist
Denver Dalley felt slight pressure while making the band's debut album, Leave
Your Name. "The songs are all done/ And as they go down on tape/
The critics click their pens," Dalley speaks-sings up close and languidly
on opener "Sing a Song," cutting to the chase right off the bat. Statistics
are ready to be labeled — they just want to beat you to it. The
song then bursts into a wall of noise built on screaming synth effects,
bludgeoning beats and plunging electrified riffs, killing any notions
that this would be just another quiet, whiney emo record. "Please don't
pout or sing of love, it's all been done," Dalley — who also plays
in Bright Eyes side project Desaparecidos — continues later on "Sing
a Song," as if repeating the nagging voices in his head. He doesn't need
to be reminded; he already knows, having invented a loud and severely
impassioned polished rock sound of his own, and Leave Your Name plain
proves it. The 11-track album delivers sad moments woven around heart-tugging
piano and fragile singing ("2 A.M."), dark, spine-tingling instrumentals
made of mighty, spiraling riffs, gritty effects and threatening drums
("Mr. Nathan") and high-energy romps led by reverb-drenched vocals and
beautifully layered arrangements ("Hours Seemed Like Days"). While name-dropping
is always helpful when looking for media attention, Leave Your Name suggests
just what it says — with a wonderful sound like theirs, a name
is beside the point; leave it behind.
|
