These Boxes Might Fall
This is the sound of clouds not burning off. The sound of sleep seeds building up in the corners of your eyes. The sound of that last five minutes and five seconds before your alarm goes off. The sound of empty impossibility and pregnant pauses. Behind all this bullshit melodrama is a beautiful song. Built on a bed as comfortable and inviting as my own right now the song works in the language of minor paranoia and doubt. Maybe those aren't the right words though.
What's one level down from fear?
Sometimes these songs have a way of finding me at the perfect time. The day that is most overcast and I am most stressed out and tired, I wake up with Ellul -- a band from San Francisco: a town that thrives on stressed out overcast. It all starts to fit together after awhile. Really, Ellul is two guys: Joel Brown- Tarman (vocals/keyboard) and Joel St. Julien (vocals/guitar). I have no idea if they're both really named Joel or if that's something they made up for the band's aesthetic. Either way, I'm fine with it. They recruited Los Angeleno Chris Schlarb from the Sounds are Active label to produce the thing, and brought in an extra musician or two to round it out. Sounds great to me.
Their self-titled album came out yesterday. You can check it out over at Sounds are Active and see for yourself.