Lenses Alien
After a well-received and ambitious debut in 2009 with *Why There Are Mountains*, New York City’s Cymbals Eat Guitars return with the greatly varied follow-up *Lenses Alien*. It’s impossible to quantify exactly what these folks are up to. Each track suggests a wide range of influences and impulses. But at the music’s heart are an engaging sense of melody and a dramatic interpretation of instrumentation. Frontman Joseph D’Agostino works conversational terrain and unashamed pop with “Definite Darkness,” that features the kind of joy one associates with the Shins and Death Cab For Cutie alongside a wall of sound not uncommon to the Cure. “The Current” broods with an elevated sense of danger. “Wavelengths” is a surprisingly straightforward pop tune, with a keen determination to still explore an assortment of textures. The Cure’s Robert Smith is further evoked during the overwhelming sonic waves in the midst of the sublime “Secret Family.” These are intricate songs, with challenging lyrics to match, but never too complicated to simply enjoy.
The Staten Island quartet follows Why There Are Mountains, its self-released debut of 1990s indie rock alchemy, with a difficult and potentially divisive sophomore LP, a lyrics-first record that puts confidence in the listener's attention span.
The Staten Island quartet follows Why There Are Mountains, its self-released debut of 1990s indie rock alchemy, with a difficult and potentially divisive sophomore LP, a lyrics-first record that puts confidence in the listener's attention span.
With its second album, Lenses Alien, Cymbals Eat Guitars challenges The Hold Steady’s stronghold on chronicling the debauched exploits of bored kids. But where Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn recalls Charles Bukowski in his unfussy tales of the characters he’s encountered, Cymbals frontman Joseph D’Agostino is more…
With its second album, Lenses Alien, Cymbals Eat Guitars challenges The Hold Steady’s stronghold on chronicling the debauched exploits of bored kids. But where Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn recalls Charles Bukowski in his unfussy tales of the characters he’s encountered, Cymbals frontman Joseph D’Agostino is more…
With a crash and a bang, the boys are back The four members of Cymbals Eat Guitars hunkered down in the basement of bassist…
With a crash and a bang, the boys are back The four members of Cymbals Eat Guitars hunkered down in the basement of bassist…
Cymbals Eat Guitars’ 2009 debut Why There Are Mountains foreshadowed a litany of indie bands mining the halcyon days of the ’90s for inspiration.
Cymbals Eat Guitars’ 2009 debut Why There Are Mountains foreshadowed a litany of indie bands mining the halcyon days of the ’90s for inspiration.
Much of the album exudes a feeling of isolation, detailing scenarios from the outside looking in.
Much of the album exudes a feeling of isolation, detailing scenarios from the outside looking in.