Album Review :
Deas Vail - White Lights EP
By Eric Pettersson in Reviews | Comments closed
Artist: Deas Vail
Album: White Lights EP
Label: Brave New World Records
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Review by: Eric Pettersson
Tracklist:
1. Under Cover
2. White Lights
3. Last Place
4. From Priests to Thieves
5. Balance
I hate Deas Vail. Not as a band. No, their music is absolutely incredible. But as people. I hate them as people for making the decision to release a five song EP that leaves me begging for more. It seems almost every time that last song comes to the end, I’ve already hit the play button again to start the thing over. And this is why I hate them. Because their music if fantastically captivating, and they know it, so they should have had their fans in mind and made a full length instead. But, I suppose sometimes that is not an option, and I guess I should give them the benefit of the doubt that this was beyond their control, and they figured releasing an EP now was better than a full length in a year. And I wholeheartedly agree.
For those stupid enough to not know about this band yet, their debut, All the Houses Look the Same, dropped on Brave New World Records in March of 2007. It was a beautiful piano-laden exploration of indie rock in a form that was both passionately driving yet hauntingly mellow. Imagine the sweetness of Aaron Marsh’s voice and piano (Copeland) but edgier like Circa Survive. Yeah, it was good stuff.
But now with White Lights, they’ve blown their previous effort out of the water. The energy is not so much edgy as it is catchy this time around, with fast piano lines and group back vocals coming out on the title track, creating more of a Jack’s Mannequin kinda vibe. Thankfully, they still offer some slower songs like “Last Place” in the mix, reminding the listener of just how good Wes Blaylock’s falsetto is (after all, the guy was classically trained), although really he uses it throughout the EP.
It’s really impossible to explain how good this EP is, but perhaps the best I can do is to say that I’m typing this right now at midnight and there may well be people sleeping in the room next to me. It’s a situation that would usually call for much courtesy and low volume, but no matter how many times I turn the volume back down, somehow it ends up blasting again without me ever realizing I’m doing it.
Amazing, really. Now all I need is that full length.
10/10
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