14 illinoisentertainer . com august 2022
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the rest of the album doesn ’ t quite meet the heady rush of mid-career classic The Suburbs , the seven suites that make up We feel like a course correction for the band .
Unfortunately , the gloominess that pervades the record ( even though the album was finished being written prior to the pandemic ) makes for a somewhat bleak experience that most likely will only be appreciated by their fanbase and few else .
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- Andy Derer
THE EARGOGGLE The Eargoggle Regales The Eargoggle Revels
( Very Special Recordings )
Eargoggle mastermind , multi-instrumentalist , and pop savant Ezra Gale aim to break the mold and dismantle conventions with this expansive project . The double album The Eargoggle Regales , the Eargoggle Revels can be viewed one of two ways . From one perspective , it ’ s an expansive doublevinyl set with a comic book that illustrates each of its 17 songs . From another perspective , it ’ s a comic book rendered by the top talent that has a soundtrack song for each of its vignette-sized stories . Enjoying both aspects simultaneously produces optimal results . The imaginative graphic art enhances Gale ’ s sonic sculptures and vice versa . The set ’ s first LP , The Eargoggle Regales , includes ten songs spanning a wide span of indie rock . Overdriven synthesizer tones and Joe Abba ’ s loping mid-tempo drum groove lead listeners past “ The Garden ” to the indoors , where Gale ’ s character withdraws from the outside world into apathy and neglect . Luis Santamaria draws the singer as a middle-aged anthropomorphic rat in his boxer shorts , oblivious and surrounded by squalor . Guest Dina Macabee lends a sweet but icy melody to “ For Too Long ,” in character as someone shutting themselves off from a claustrophobic and demanding relationship . “ So many others let you in , but I ’ m not opening ,” sings Macabee . Fuzz guitars sputter and spit through “ Killer ,” making way for a psychedelic sitar bridge . Patrick Lugo ’ s comic illustrates the lyric about a pair of androids wondering whether they ’ re made for each other and in love or merely following their programming . With Jason Slota ’ s motorik krautrock beat , the off-kilter “ One Mark treads the line between Talking Heads , Dandy Warhols , and Gary Numan . The twisted pop of “ Before Times ” is reminiscent of Mark Oliver Everett ’ s vulnerable and minimalist mini-symphonies with Eels . The song climaxes with a crashing , Zeppelinesque coda . “ Crocus ” sings the tale of a perennial flower . Having retreated for a few seasons of my time into the safety of mother earth , the flower promises to return to the sunlight in due time . Gale ’ s vocal delivery suggests an affinity for Frank Black and the Flaming Lips . Lucia Stavros ’ vocal on “ Breaking Your Bones ” finds her character mustering the power and will to finally confront and defeat longstanding abuse . Fiona Oakley ’ s artwork illustrates a young girl who has turned from fear to anger and determination . Gale colors the lighthouse tale of “ On My Tiny Island ” with upright acoustic bass and Mellotron , crafting the mood of a lonely sentinel . “ I ’ m not living for you ,” sings Gale with more than a hint of denial during “ Living for You .” “ Story Song ” unfolds atop beat-poet bass , trashcan percussion , and Beatlesque Mellotron
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