I\u2019m all for retro music, and this is why initially enjoyed Western Civ\u2019s \u201cShower the People You Love With Gold\u201d. It sounds as if it were created in 1987, fighting for college radio airtime with The Connells and The Railway Children. But herein lies the problem: It\u2019s one thing to be from 1987, but quite another to sound like 1987. The album was great for a listen, but it just made me run back to my Waxing Poetics cassette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New artists too often borrow, trying to mask these appropriations with subtle flourishes \u2014 an added bridge here, a guitar solo there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As \u201cI Am A Waterfall\u201d kicks in, it hits me: Lloyd Cole! Yes, that was a good album. With \u201cRally\u201d I’m with the Lemonheads, before Evan Dando lost any sense of reality. \u201cThe Disturbing Presence of Chachi\u201d brings Robyn Hitchcock and his Egyptians to the fore, while \u201cPaper Hornet Parade\u201d puts Let\u2019s Active front and center. The last one can\u2019t be pinned too much on Western Civ \u2014 Mitch Eas-ter, Let\u2019s Active founder\/lead singer, serves as producer on \u2018Shower the People\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Western Civ recreated the greatest guitar riffs from my youth, and it\u2019s good for a visit. But when bands of today such as M83 and Oxford Collapse take old school to new depths, playing music ripped from the past makes a band as relevant as a Betamax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So thanks for offering a ride, Western Civ, but you’re two decades too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ethereal dream pop with ambient folk influences. A quiet, layered female vocal lead is processed with hall reverb and subtle delay. The arrangement features deep sub-bass synth, and a minimalist electronic drum kit with a soft kick and crisp hi-hats. Atmospheric synth pads provide a lush harmonic wash. The track is in the key of G major at 110 BPM. The vocal delivery is characterized by soft, whispered textures. A rhythmic synth pulse enters in the second half, adding a subtle drive to the ambient soundscape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m all for retro music, and this is why initially enjoyed Western Civ\u2019s \u201cShower the People You Love With Gold\u201d. It sounds as if it were created in 1987, fighting for college radio airtime with The Connells and The Railway Children. But herein lies the problem: It\u2019s one thing to be from 1987, but quite […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[58],"class_list":["post-737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-western-civ"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=737"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":739,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737\/revisions\/739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abandonedcouches.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}