The Everyday Visuals Duplicate

Some bands try to get by on style alone and they usually get away with it. The Everyday Visuals are not one of those bands - they get by on pure taste. After warming up the tubes and fingers with an overture, the second track begins and turns out to be an absolutely fantastic song that all but demands to be listened to. Everything in "Tiger Suit" works; even the crazy-assed Dream Theatre violin interlude jives righteously. Whether thrown in for pure bent appeal or artistic merit, it still rocks. Listening to this song, one gets the impression that if the Everyday Visuals dropped a guitar, they'd do it in time and proper key. The band keeps swinging in the next song, this time led on by the warm/gnarly tones of surging Hammond goodness. As opposed to the usual guit-army of noise, the keyboard instruments are given an eminent spot on this record and fine vintage sounds prevail in terms of organ, Mellotron, and electric piano. Later on the program are we treated to the sensitive side of the Everyday Visuals. "Her Breathing is Music" is a heaving piece that works its way up the ladder to the apex of highly reverbed grandeur that disappears up into the clouds in heavenly splendor. This track kicks off several more songs in same vibe, if not the angelic glory of the mighty fifth track. This record is a touch long, and while there are a few more breaks into the land of the rock, nothing shows the zip of the first half. "Electric Lights" makes a run at the standout second track, but the band hits another true high point with "Beautiful Day #1" - a song that moves so well and brims with so much good-morning! optimism that it can stir the psyche to believe that it might just be a Beautiful Day for any and all who hear this song. Media Crush is a lengthy exploration of the Everyday Visuals' highly textured sound and grants them immediate class points to go along with their tasty sound. (self-released)

- North East Performer

"Holy fuck" is most of what I was thinking when I first heard this band live---mostly because their opening song alone, "Her Breathing Is Music," had everything I wanted to hear all night; excellent vocals, three part harmonies, twisting indie melodies, super-tight rhythm section supported by a coming and going crushing drum loop and even total stops where the singer abandoned the mic and sang to the crowd sans amplification, the band falling back in like a bomb, perfectly on beat, at verse's end.

Hearing the record only worried me at first with the typical cynical expectation that it might not live up to the live show. This cynicism was properly dashed by track three. It would take an entire article to really get at how much of a total experience this band is, and how well it translates to record. Since I don't have that space, I'm going to cop out and list what they remind me of. Ready? Radiohead. Flaming Lips. Beatles. Placebo. Sunny Day R.E. Pink Floyd (the good years). This album ranges from "Penny Lane" type bounce-alongs and lullabies to huge, oceanic soundscapes. Song lengths range from 2:23 to 7:23. Two songs are called "Beautiful Day" and "love" is mentioned several times, but there's no trace of cheese on this whole record. Hell, even if there was, the well-placed line "I write bad poetry" takes away any right you'd have to be pissed off about it.

This band is a complete surprise and joy. See them live, get the record, love it, and tell 'em I sent you.

- The Noise