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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 21, 2005)
(Etregano's Will Sc GXPine O&ar Casual Italian °3,itiing patio seating 830 Olive Street 393-0830 BlicLJcLrciJcLfgjajgj^ gPPMMiPPiiig 9 1 il Sp nj ]oin us for late nights! ^P Kl offer homemade ice cream and mediterranean cocktails! ItziU Mediterranean Rustica Open until 11 p.m. on fridays 2435 Hilyard ► 684-8400 - wwwiraila.com m uBjgiisjBjaji GROCERS, WINE MERCHANTS & BOOKSELLERS KIVA Specialty, Gourmet, and Organic Foods Fresh Organic Produce Bulk Foods, Herbs, Spices, Coffee, and Teas Over 200 Cheeses and Deli Meats, Sliced or Cut To Order e, Champagne, Beer rewide Specials and day Low Prices MOIM-SAT 9-8 • SUN 10-5 125 West 11th Ave. • DOWNTOWN EUGENE • 541-342-8666 ■ CD review Band dials up British pop rock influences for soulful album The High Dials call from Canada with gentle, but still rocking melodies on "War of the Wakening Phantoms" BY RYAN NYBURG PULSE EDITOR It’s popular for some critics to de ride popular music that they feel re lies too heavily on sounds from the past rather than creating something that sounds new. This is remarkably simple-minded and thoughtless. Music is about recycling, from which comes new innovations. Re lying on sounds from the past is not a new trend, especially in rock. In the 1950s rock drew from 1940s1' R&B; 1960s rock drew1 from 1940s and 1950s1 electric blues and (lat-1 er) acoustic folk. Punk! took from garage, which1 took from R&B. And the1 High Dials take from the! Zombies on their new al-1 bum, “War of the Wakening! Phantoms.” I hardly see this1 as a crime. The High Dials is a Canadi-1 an group that is trying to make1 a place for itself in the American1 indie scene, and with this sort of! heartfelt pop rock that doesn’t seem like it will be a problem. The group draws heavily from British pop rock of the late 1960s, not to mention a handful of American in fluences. The Zombies, the Byrds and a few other choice selections come to mind, but there are few duller critic games than listing influ ences, so lets just say that these guys are apparently drawing inspiration from the right places to make good music. The music is slow to mid-tempo, well-crafted and lyrical, using the atmospherics of harmony to create gentle melodies along rock songs that are almost soothing, yet are still distinctly rock. Lead singer TVevor Ander son bit of Thom York operatics about his voice, but the music does n’t suffer from the moody self possession of some Radiohead sound-alikes. Instead, the music is soulful and occasionally uplifting in the best pop rock tradition. While nothing here matches the melodic or lyrical sophistication of a truly amazing modern pop rock group (say, The Shins), it still shows a level of so phistication missing from popular pop music (as redundant and self contradictory as that sounds). The sounds here recall the music of the 1960s in a way that is both fresh and invigorating. No band has shown this level of knowledge of 1960s pop and how to use it proper ly since the Brian Jonestown Mas sacre, and the High Dials are a m,,/,h more consistent group. While there are obvi ous highlights, every single song on this al works. “The Lost Explor er” builds with mch subtle mo nentum that you tardly notice it ntil it peaks. “A iver Haunting” irprises with its \V^ suuuen Liidnges in tone while “Higher and Brighter” is al C°^ most perfect pop rock. While the band still seems to be developing, the direction they are heading is the right one. The album, though not one of the best of the year, is certainly one of the most lis tenable, and is a great piece of work from a band destined to do much better work. Or so we hope. The High Dials will be performing at Diablo’s Downtown Lounge on July 31. ryannyb urg@ dailyemerald. com 12S8m * JULY 21 WITH:PITER PAT AERODRONE ★UNKLE NANCY 7J|i IJJSJ S3 Kill * uj\ ★ all shows are all ages * www.wowhall.Dng * 691.2*146 *
