Drowned In a Sea of Sound

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (68 ratings)
ALBUM INFORMATION

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 41:01

eMusic Review

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Peter Parrish

eMusic Contributor

04.30.08
Ahoy! Nu-Shoegazers chart the stormy seas on their latest outing.
2008 | Label: Clairecords / IODA

Recent shoegazer types have been quite taken with matters aquatic. Airiel offered up mermaids and conflict in Sealand, while Tearwave opted to weep an entire watery swell. The Daysleepers clearly don't want to be left out and, after a couple of well-received EPs, have also looked to the ocean to inspire their debut full-length.

This makes sense really, because the glimmering underwater world is a perfect companion for these purveyors of fluid dreampop. Delay-driven antics and mythical lichen-dwelling beasties make happy seabedfellows, at least if the shimmer and thrust of "Release the Kraken" are anything to go by. And the creature connections continue with "Tiger in the Sea," whose cliffside-erosion guitars do indeed suggest a large feline thrashing amidst the undertow. Both tracks owe much to the Daysleepers 'secret weapon — unexpectedly vigorous percussion, which ensures that the more restless of these songs have considerable propulsion.

There are calmer shores too, of course. "The Secret Place" is a treasure cave of synth swells and half-buried sparkles, while "Summerdreamer" gradually blends its male-female vocal interplay into one lengthy, lingering sigh of contentment. Immersion awaits in these depths. Dive in and bliss out.

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drowning never felt so good

the_real_drucifer

doesn't leave a playlist. i have been a huge shoegaze fan since the genre came out in the early nineties. the memories that come roaring back with this music. this is heady stuff. put on a pair of noise cancelling headphones and disappear for a few hours. fantastic.

user avatar

Pleasant Surprise!

Shostakovich

Ringing guitars, good propulsion, good hooks and honest-to-goodness production make this one of my happier accidents. Combine Cure, Cocteau Twins, with a vocal hint of Prefab Sprout, toss in a blender set to SHOEGAZE, and you've got a pretty good punch!

user avatar

Fantastic

Achilles

The Daysleepers music absolutely gorgeous. Get their two previous EPs as well (not available on emusic).

user avatar

Sounds Good, Digs Deep

Smokeorange

I just love albums that are instantly likable, and yet well-crafted enough to sustain repeated listening. Daysleepers reminds me of the Big Sound movement of the mid-80's: Simple Minds, early U2, Big Country, The Waterboys. Very atmospheric, shimmering guitar and enough reverb to swallow your ears. Sometimes they get too mellodramatic, which they they really don't need because the music carries the emotion well. Otherwise it's damn near perfect.

user avatar

Good, but just ok

evrt

It's a good standard or basic shoegaze album, but it lacks something. It's almost too commercial or something, I don't know how to describe it. I wish emusic had their EP's because their earlier stuff is better.

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Splendor

lonelyisaneysore

The Daysleepers two previous EP's Hide Your Eyes & The Soft Attack are fantastic pieces of dreamy reverb splendor. Drowned In a Sea of Sound is a blistering debut. This LP should give them the exposure they deserve. Turn off the lights, and enjoy.

user avatar

Great Album...

shoegazer9

This is a brilliant, dreamy and perfect shoegazer album. I am very impressed! Download this now.

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They Say All Media Guide

Upstate New York indie rockers the Daysleepers aren’t kidding with that album title: not since the shoegazer heyday has a band been so intent on immersing the listener in veritable oceans of reverb, echo, and effects pedals. Apparently raised on a steady diet of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive albums, the Daysleepers have that turn of the ’90s sound down cold, but like many of the bands who found themselves on the shoegazer bandwagon, their debut full-length reveals a fatal flaw. Once the listener mentally strips away all the things that makes these ten songs sound really, really cool, the songs themselves are revealed to be pretty weak, neither melodically nor lyrically memorable beyond the pretty but shallow surfaces. On the other hand, shoegaze bands tended to be about little more than the surfaces (there’s a reason why the vocals were usually set way back in the mix, or why Liz Fraser usually sang in a made-up language, so that the vocals would be treated as just another instrument), so that’s not necessarily a flaw for die-hard fans of the style. And that demographic will be so enamored by the sound of songs like the rushing “Megatron Supernova” and the aptly titled “Lovesparkles” that thoughts of depth or stylistic redundancy will be moot. Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream, as someone once said. – Stewart Mason

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