The Delicate Seam

They Say...

Review by Daphne Carr, All Music Guide

The second album from Bloodthirsty Lovers brings together a group of contemporary indie rock helping hands (Big Ass Truck's Steve Selvidge and Dambuilders' Kevin March) for eight short but wonderful tracks of '70s style pop psychedelia with hints of laptop intervention. Frontman Dave Shouse has an earnest, plainspoken vocal delivery where each word sits on display atop the instruments, mostly fuzzed-out basses, squiggly guitar loops and synths and spaced-out, lo-fi but Bowie-esque drums. This combination brings out a warmer, more organic feel to the songs than did the arrangements for the Lovers' more downtempo, groove-oriented debut. Opener "The Mods Go Mad" simmers with mid-tempo drum machines, and the mournful analogy "I'm your napalm, you're my codeine." Closer "Medicated" proves how beautiful this bitter pill can be, with meandering guitars, warm electronics and guest vocals from Young People's singer Katie Eastburn. "El Shocko" shines brightly like the post-Velvet Underground country styling of John Cale on Vintage Violence and features a frighteningly happy backing chorus for the verses. The wistful jangle pop of "Postcards From the Sea" recalls Spoon's Kill the Moonlight and forms an excellent segue into the weirder second-half of the album, which starts with a brooding Grifters-like track, "The Conversation." "Now You Know" has a late-night, end-of-session lull to it, with sparse drumming and weirdo keyboards making raygun sounds over syrupy vocals. This hollowed-out track proves to be the low point of an otherwise lovely little album of indie rock.