LEEDS MUSIC SCENE
cd
reviews - January 2010
Rachel Gardner
Midnight Matinée
leedsmusicscene.net
3 out of 5 Stars
Midnight Matinée is
the seventh release from New York based The Lost Patrol, and the first
recording with singer Mollie Israel.
This is definitely not a CD for those who have a specific genre
and stick to that, having been described as everything from 'gothic spaghetti
western' to 'experimental surf,' it's no wonder there is some difficulty
in deciphering the sound. The tracks float out of the speakers and immerse
the listener in a dreamlike world of "twangy-ethereal electric guitars,
lush acoustic twelve strings, deep synth textures and sirenic vocals."
There is even a touch of bubblegum pop on 'Jukebox on the Moon' complete
with sleigh bells and cheery bounce.
Right from the first track you feel like you have been transported
into a Tarantino movie, you can practically taste cigarettes and tequila.
The guitar style, reminiscent of Tito & Tarantula or Johnny Marr,
feels relaxed and effortless. The combination of the acoustic guitars
and the electric guitars work really well throughout the album. The former
give the songs a warm settling feeling and the latter rest on otherworldly
and illustrative.
Mollie Israel's vocals are dreamy and crawl seductively over
the tracks with an air of Joni Mitchell mixed with Kosheen's Sian Evans.
'Fades From View' and 'The Fallen' best showcase Mollie's vocals as they
become fluid and transcendental, pirouetting over the melodies and reeling
you into The Lost Patrol's world, it's a bit of a shame though that some
of the lyrical content gets lost along the way.
It comes as no surprise that the history of this band is littered
with instrumental soundtrack music as the songs float out of the speakers
rather than rush and grab your attention. Throughout the album there is
a lack of enough ideas to stand the tracks apart from each other. Although
each track by itself is pleasurable enough and well executed, as a whole
the tracks are too similar to give this album a sense of depth and dimension.
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