New Wax


With an eponymous debut that was all the rage in the music-blog community and drew comparisons to everyone from Mazzy Star to Nico, Baltimore indie duo Beach House is back with their brand of serene lo-fi dream pop on their new release Devotion. Now, when I desribe their music as "dream pop,"  I mean an opiate-induced sunny-day picnic dream with like... the grim reaper peeling an orange next to you. There's a very ghostly feeling to their music, and it's most likely attributable to their affinity for the seldom-used organ, which intermingles hauntingly with lead singer Victoria Legrand's vocals. With its slow-driven waltzes, Devotion is a hypnotic trip to yesteryear with its 60's-era harmonies, but there's an off-putting touch of garage-fuzz that keeps things mysterious, and well, creepy. Listening to Devotion feels eerily nostalgic, but it's like conjuring up an ancient memory that has been distorted by time. That being said, the songs on Devotion all sound pretty similar and completing the album in one sitting might prove difficult.  It may be a tad one-note, but it's a haunting and moody note indeed. As far as highlights, I'm particularly fond of the duo's take on Daniel Johnston's "Some Things Last A Long Time." -- Capt. Obvious