School of Seven Bells / Disconnect from Desire / Album Review
So I found a band with crazy synth-drums, lyrics that would make Shakespeare (or contributor Chris Carosi) proud, and a set of chick twins with voices like angels (or Sirens, which ever gets you goin’). The story of School of Seven Bells’ formation is one of the sweetest things I’ve heard in a long time. So Benjamin Curtis from Secret Machines and On!Air!Library!‘s Alejandra and Claudia Deheza were pieces of two different bands opening for Interpol back in 2004. The three of them hit it off and BOOM! They say “peace out” to their respective groups and we get a band whose new album, Disconnect from Desire, has curiously found its way into my headphones night after night for the past week. And it doesn’t plan on leaving!
School of Seven Bells – Windstorm
School of Seven Bells – Dust Devil
Pick up School of Seven Bells @ InSound
So, they write their music ass-backward but it comes out exactly the way they (and you) want it to sound. The vocals and lyrics are written right off the bat and the music and percussion are carefully thrown in afterward, but with voices like Alejandra and Claudia have, I’d be doing the exact same thing. Their harmonies are beautiful and even more refined and tight than School of Seven Bells’ last album, Alpinism. Alejandra has a leg up on her peers though – she is a lucid dreamer. She pulls, writes and lives music while she sleeps (balls dude, that’s cool). It’s hard not to classify the band as electronica, but I wouldn’t call them new age. Well then, you might ask, what the hell are they? Their sound is reminiscent of Genesis, with a shot of Ride, and a twist of My Bloody Valentine just for good measure. Now those are three bands that command some serious respect, but I’ll give it where it’s due friends, and I’m giving it all night.
Their new album Disconnect from Desire comes out next week, and lucky for all of us, you can stream the whole album on their website. A few tracks that stand out: right out of the gate “Windstorm” makes you hungry, “I L U” makes you horny, and “Bye Bye Bye” will make 20-something girls around the world forget that N’SYNC ever existed (wow I never thought I’d mention those guys here). You also have to check out “Dust Devil” just for Ben Curtis’ mini-Phil Collins impression. For a sophomore album, School of Seven Bells’ Disconnect from Desire is one giant leap in the right direction. Now I’m not trying to put Alpinism down, I love it too, but this album is one that will get some serious play and make some serious noise for a band that deserves it. The end story is that School of Seven Bells has a sound that is something special – it’s new, it’s old, and it’s music that you want to listen to all night.
It’s killing me that the closest these guys get to Pittsburgh is Baltimore, D.C., or Philadelphia. Looks like Draw Us Lines may have to hit the road to get you a live review.
What do I think? Let’s give it 8 out of 10 lucid dreamers.
Official Site of School of Seven Bells
Filed under: Album Reviews, New to Us, New to You?, Videos
[...] School of Seven Bells has been rocking my world now for a few weeks. Alejandra and Claudia’s voices are so chillingly haunting and beautiful that I’m completely thrown off balance. Black Cab Sessions knocked it out of the park by catching such a gorgeous rendition of “White Elephant Coat”. The audio is crisp and clear. And the video is as cool as their voices. I can’t help but wonder what the Deheza sisters are looking at though. [...]
[...] alt-country or alt-folk bands, it’s a poppy female fronted band (e.g. Forest City Lovers, School of Seven Bells, Kathryn Calder). As my good friend Blake says “If it ain’t broke, then you did it all [...]
[...] 2. The internet The Genius feature that Apple has come up with is pretty damn good. As are services like Last.fm and Pandora. These give you alternatives to what you already listen to, pretty sweet. While you might not find any completely unknown bands, you certainly will find some stuff that you’re not aware of. Pandora is a source for me that has led to some of my posts…Isbells and School of Seven Bells. [...]