'Please, what happened to the flame?'

Something very different today. I realised i was focusing myself mainly on the acoustic/electronica/pop genre over the last few days, and in a similar vane i went for 'Folk Rock' on Purevolume's random profile jump. Well apparently God doesn't like my genre bias so he gave me something that was almost entirely not folk rock, and entirely something you'll either really like, or hate with a passion. Here goes.

THE DEAR HUNTER

So going with the labels 'Acoustic/Folk Rock/Rock' these guys have pretty much undervalued their music in almost every single way. The first song 'The Procession' is a gloriously loud and agressive ode to something much more Prog Rock than acoustic. You do see a few acoustics in their music, they just don't seem to be apparent in the more 'outgoing' tunes. The folk as well is mostly a lie. I can see some elements in their music, such as in the second song of the laylist 'The oracles on the Delphi Express' whose melody and piano do give off that folky vibe. But that's easily drowned out by a bridge that rises to an overdriven crescendo which actually manages to fit the music very well.
The next song, too, actually does do folk pretty well but even in the more acoustic songs there still seems to be this element of rock. And during these more restraint tracks, you're constantly waiting for it all to explode again and the rock to come back in full force, and i have to say - even though i'm not a big rock fan - when the climax doesn't come, i'm almost dissapointed. Not because i necessarily wanted it to happen, but because they teeter so disatrously on the edge that you're constantly waiting for them to fall into the chaos we all loved at the beginning of the playlist.


Luckily we get it all back with the track 'City Escape' Now, i'm not sure whether this track proceeds the previous one in an actual album or not, but the transition from one song to another in this playlist is perfect. 'The lake south' to me sounds like a sort of interlude and then as soon as it ends with slow, droning piano and horns, we get a much bigger and more exciting piano sound, mixed with some really nice guitar and we breath a sigh of relieve as rightness is restored to the world. Again i'm not generally a fan of this type of music, though i can definately appreciate when a band is doing something their good at. And it's this track where they really shine. All elements from previous tracks on the playlist come together and we have this great piano melody, some melancholy chorus in the background and the crazy prog rock guitar coming in full force out in front. And it all just works. It makes me glad that i stuck with this band despite their slower songs just so i could realise that they are a big part of this band, and while i definately agree that rock is what they do best, the folk and acoustic songs that come through from the songs that i didn't enjoy so much, lend themselves so much to the rest of this music.


I guess i can conclude by saying that this isn't music i'd usually listen to. In fact i'm pretty sure i'll never have these guys on my iPod, but the way they actually do what they do, i can definately appreciate. I just hope in future they refine that coming together of rock, folk and acoustic and they could be a seriously great band.