Description:
Drifting in like Sunday morning drizzle, Push The Heart is a record that often sounds afraid to wake anybody up. The fourth full-length from LA's Devics continues the gentle flow of 2003's The Stars At Saint Andrea, but expands and softens the arrangements as guitarist/keyboardist Dustin O'Halloran goes for a Mazzy Star-like intimacy. Not that there hasn't always been a little Hope Sandoval in vocalist Sara Lov's lilting and lovely alto, but Devics miss Mazzy's nocturnal, psychedelic edge. The record's best moments come when O'Halloran and Lov decide it's OK to raise a small ruckus and combine drawn-out phrasing with some rhythm
Drifting in like Sunday morning drizzle, Push The Heart is a record that often sounds afraid to wake anybody up. The fourth full-length from LA's Devics continues the gentle flow of 2003's The Stars At Saint Andrea, but expands and softens the arrangements as guitarist/keyboardist Dustin O'Halloran goes for a Mazzy Star-like intimacy. Not that there hasn't always been a little Hope Sandoval in vocalist Sara Lov's lilting and lovely alto, but Devics miss Mazzy's nocturnal, psychedelic edge. The record's best moments come when O'Halloran and Lov decide it's OK to raise a small ruckus and combine drawn-out phrasing with some rhythmic momentum. "Distant Radio" makes wonderful use of Lov's tone, and recalls some of The Sundays' wistful bliss, while "A Secret Message To You" features a cute typewriter click for tempo and atmosphere. But too often, songs leave compelling ideas dangling around the edges. "Salty Seas" mines a Cat Power vibe, but can't match Chan Marshall's emotional highwire kick. O'Halloran jumps in on vocals for "If We Cannot See" but his flat delivery is too close in the mix and blunts the song's dynamic range. Devics were obviously after a looser, subdued feel here, but a few targeted doses of passion and contrast would have made for something less somnambulistic and more quietly dramatic. --Matthew Cooke
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Manufacturer: Filter U.S.
Release date: 7 March 2006
EAN: 0801190122523 UPC: 801190122523
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