No Need To Be Downhearted

The Electric Soft Parade might have just released one of my favorite records of the year. No Need To Be Downhearted (our 4/24) is a far different excursion than has been had by recent British imports with the dance rock fusion of the Klaxons, Test Icicles, and even the Arctic Monkeys. The scene that the Electric Soft Parade has painted is a shape shifting canvas of beautiful British song writing underneath the umbrella of harmony and melodic seventh chords. It’s a result of the mere tendency for some artists to revert to the classics for inspiration rather than treading a new path blazed by the appropriation of technology and experimentation.

The opening tracks of ...Downhearted portray the sonic landscape and pop sensibilities that are portrayed throughout the album. It’s a shifting ride from somber melancholia to beat-driven pop masterpiece. “Life In The Backseat” carries the same hit-making possibilities as the Cloud Room’s hit-that-never-was, “Hey Now Now,” but with the energy and mimic of an Of Montreal breakdown. It carries a childlike optimism for life where you finally take your place in the driver’s seat of life and embark on your own crash course journey through the terrains of living and learning.

[mp3] The Electric Soft Parade – Life In The Backseat
[mp3] The Electric Soft Parade – If That’s The Case, Then I Don’t Know
[mp3] The Electric Soft Parade – Cold War (from The Human Body EP)
[mp3] The Electric Soft Parade – Kick In The Teeth (from The Human Body EP)

5/30/07 – Spaceland (w/ BrakesBrakesBrakes and Pela)

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