Point Juncture, WA

Heart to Elk

(Mt. Fuji)

Record Review by Marcel Feldmar

Mellow and melodic, this group from Portland lets the slo-lo-fi indie grooves go. There really wasn’t much information included with the CD – not that really ever adds much to the reviews, but sometimes it makes me feel a little more connected.

The vocals, drifting above soft melodics and sprinklings of sound, move between the little girl lost croons of Amanda Spring and the more soft spoken, sometimes Belle & Sebastian touched, musings of Victor Nash.

The interesting thing, I think, is how on the surface this band seems to be moving along those acoustic indie-folk waves, which more often than not actually leave me wanting more, but if you let yourself just get into the mood, there’s actually something much greater going on underneath. Yes, that was an awfully long sentence. What I mean, is that this band has managed to create something that moves in a similar drive/drone to Stereolab, but in what feels like a very unique way. The mood, the vibe, it’s built upon layers of sounded that touch on that ambient synth-pop, but done in a perfectly indie-rock grass-roots style that feels much more organic.

There are hints of the Flaming Lips that fall in like autumn leaves, and then some beautiful driving yet ethereally melodic songs that remind me of the Spinanes, and I get all wistful and melancholic. In a good musical way, though. It feels like this band sort of slides, glides, and grows on you. I seriously wasn’t sure when I started to listen, but by the end of the CD, I was feeling very comfortable and relaxed, like hanging out with an old friend that you weren’t sure you would still like after all the time that had passed, but then found that things were still just as cool and perfect as they used to be.