27 - Holding on to Brighter Days
Rating
RIYL
Fiona AppleTwin Zero
PJ Harvey
Tracklist
louder than wordsheaven owes me one
closer to you
1001 gods
a million years
half life
windows and glass
gullfoss
downfall of the upright
brighter days
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27 is not your mother's indie-pop rock band. They are not your local radio station's favorite indie-pop rock band. They are not Death Cab for Cutie. There was no collaboration with Jimmy Tamborello. They are not on Subpop Records. They don't have a league of screaming (teenage girl) fans. And, most importantly, they are not something you can afford to miss.
27 is an oddity of a band. In sound, one would be ready to compare them to something like Fiona Apple or PJ Harvey. Maybe I'm losing touch with reality, but I've never liked those types of artists and 27 makes some awesome music. Here's what I do know about the band. 27 is a indie rock band hailing from Boston, Massachusetts but would rather be in England. They've put out some material with Hydra Head Records and now Undergroove Records, both very metal minded labels. But, they aren't just a band that is oddly thrown on a "metal label." They've been known to play shows with Twin Zero (recently completed a split with them as well), Isis, Cave-In, and Johnny Truant, not to mention a list of other "loud" bands that you wouldn't expect to see share a stage with 27. Metalheads seem to love this band, for reasons I'm not entirely sure I could explain, other than 27 makes some excellent music, and genre biases left aside, its highly addicting.
Contrary to what the titles may suggest, the band's 2004 EP, Let the Light In, was a more aggressive outing than the new offering, Holding on to Brighter Days. The new album places a higher importance on samples, loops, and that little charm we like to call the piano. The band extends their repertoire in the new album and really shows off the strength of its creativity and the lovely tones of Maria Christopher. Holding on to Brighter Days doesn't attempt to dazzle with profuse complexity in their compositions and frivolous material. Instead, layers are delicately built and placed on top of one another in harmonic arrangements. Soft, hypnotic landscapes are spun effortlessly into the band's musical space and there is no threat of a hostile breach from opposing forces. 27 has honed in on their signature sound and on this release the band is actively pushing it to new limits and yielding fabulous results in the process.
"Louder than Words", the opener of the album, starts the album off right with a lush layering of samples and instrumentation. 27 mixes together some string samples, a bit of piano backup, a complacent drum beat, and drives it all home with that dazzling vocal presence. It only gets better from there. "Closer to You" changes pace and gets a little gritty, running together some rough mixes and electronic samples. "A Million Years" steps away from the routine of the new album and reverts back to old indie rock methods. The linear aspect of the track blends in well with the diverse selection of material provided on the album, sandwiched between the brooding "1001 Gods" and the loftier "Half Life" and "Windows and Glass". Speaking of which, "Half Life" is one of those beautiful songs that you know some production company or another will be trying to put on the next upcoming trendy movie. The album ends with a contrast of styles from 27, throwing up the ock oriented sounds of "Downfall of the Upright" with the multi-textured face of "Brighter Days". If this album is any indication of the future of this bands, then brighter days are indeed in the forecast.
Holding on to Brighter Days is the accumulation of years worth of experience into a single, bewildering album. Regardless of one's musical preferences, this album is capable of changing your mind about what you thought about the indie scene. If there were more bands like 27 pushing the boundaries of the genre, the music world wouldn't be as stagnant as it currently is. Holding on to Brigher Days is, hands down, amazing.
--Jordan Volz
Comments
Bradenton, FL.
Cleveland, OH
Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records
Dallas, Texas
I don't mind it so much. But what's just stupid is that a lot of my UK orders make it to my doorstep faster than orders placed IN the US.
michigan
NY/PA
The Great North Woods
Darla Farmer
RIYL:
the Beatles
Tom Waits
Murder By Death
A Whisper in the Noise
the Blood Brothers
Anytown USA
You play to win the game.
Maine
if you think this is amazing, go listen to animal life
Cleveland, OH
Most likely because it is still an import.
Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records
The Great North Woods
Darla Farmer
RIYL:
the Beatles
Tom Waits
Murder By Death
A Whisper in the Noise
the Blood Brothers
Maine
im surprised hydra head hasnt put it out
Cleveland, OH
Scene Point Blank / Escapist Records