2009-05-31
Out of Portland, duo-used-to-be, Viva Voce is now a quartet for its second album on Barsuk Records. Combining guy-girl harmonies with dreamy guitar and dark lyrics, Viva Voce offers and ambient shoegaze-pop sound. This album was written, arranged and recorded within a month for an immediate sound. Best songs are the country-noir "Red Letter Day" and "Die A Little" with its cool "oooh, oooh, oooh" refrain. Nothing here beats "Devotion", though, the album's opener. Rebecca Ruth
WEST END MOTEL
Only Time Can Tell
AESOP ROCK
None Shall Pass
MAYER HAWTHORNE
A Strange Arrangement
PROFESSOR LOUIE AND THE CROWMATIX
Whispering Pines
YOUNG & SICK
Young & Sick
MELISSA RUTH & THE LIKELY STORIES
Ain't No Whiskey
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