Desert City Soundtrack sets itself apart from the bulk of its indie rock contemporaries by putting Corin Gray’s piano and trumpet skills out in front of Funeral Car. Built around songs about loss and mourning, the quartet’s debut launches with the sad, lush “My Hell.” Hushed, pensive keyboards remain prominent on the pensive ballad “Drowning Horses,” which crescendos with vocalist/guitarist Matt Carillo’s cathartic rants. The Portland outfit’s emotional purging carries over into “Drawn and Quartered,” a piano-pounding, drum-thumping take on hardcore. Easing up for the moody “Dying Dawn,” the horn-laced number hints at acceptance, but the band’s compelling sound never swerves from being overcast, as brooding, bleak orchestration meets apocalyptic drama on “Take You Under.” Death for Desert City takes on a number of forms, be it loss of love, loss of sanity, or loss of life. Funeral Car is a sad and eerie vehicle worth taking a trip in. Just leave the razor blades in the medicine cabinet. – John D. Luerssen
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