First Album Review: Division Day

This here is the very first album review on BSC. It is also the very first contribution from Kaiser Gabe Wilhelm. He's going to be taking care of album reviews. I really wanted to get two reviews of each album posted so you could compare opinions - but that's hard to coordinate. So instead feel free to leave your own reviews in the comment section. So here it is kiddies:

Division Day - Beartrap Island

Division Day's website bio mentions the phrase "all analog" twice to describe the process of recording their two releases. This suggests that: a) they have a healthy distrust of the digital recording realm; or b) they have some sort of indie insecurity or guilt about how good they sound. And they sound pretty damn good.

Tracked partly in the Bahamas and partly at San Francisco's coolest little studio "Tiny Telephone," the band's sound is rich and interesting with an eclectic array of instruments. From the washy, My Bloody Valentine guitars of "To the Woods" to the shape-shifting pop of "Tigers" to the spacey dub of "Hand To the Sound," the album genre-jumps on a whim, but somehow holds a darkly psychedelic coherency. Noise-scape song bumpers add textured flow to the mingled sounds, and make each coming song kind of startling. The California harmonies, colorful instrumentation, and Rohner Segnitz's breathy and earnest vocals kept reminding me of the Thrills, if the Thrills suddenly became obsessed with Dismemberment Plan and Yo La Tengo.

I wanted to write a nasty review for my first attempt at being a critic. (For some reason I think it might be easier). But Beartrap Island had a lot of things I expect from a good band and little that I expect from a bad one. Apparently this band is currently unsigned, which surprises me. I don't know what's up with the music scene in LA, but we could definitely use a few more bands this smart on our side of the Mississippi.

MP3's:
Tigers - Division Day
Tap-Tap, Click-Cick - Division Day
Colorguard - Division Day
Hurricane - Division Day

Buy:
Division Day - Beartrap Island
Division Day - The Mean Way In