Evangelicals: The Evening Descends
Dead Oceans
2008
Rating:


Evangelicals' 2006 debut "So Gone" is a messy affair in which frontman Josh Jones veers too far into the psychedelic, often forgetting the pop. Sophomore effort "The Evening Descends" is a far more balanced offering of psych-pop that frequently reaches the heights of fellow Okies The Flaming Lips. In fact, the band, which now includes bassist Jyle Davis and drummer Austin Stephens, often sounds like a more experimental version of Arcade Fire.

Oddly juxtaposed dialogue and studio noise are mixed with glam guitars and charmingly cheap synthesizer blasts to create a sound that's as disarming as it is disarmingly stirring. The fractured title track is overly fractured, but it swooshes into the falsetto harmonies of "Midnight Vignette." The marching band drumbeat and glittering guitar of "Skeleton Man" is even arena-ready. "How Do You Sleep?" perfects Evangelicals' squall of melody and noise. "The Evening Descends" amazes because something this experimental shouldn't be this beautiful.

Posted Saturday, February 9, 2008

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http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/music/evangelicals/evening.descends