According to your parents, you are only as good as the company you keep. So it bears mentioning that it didn’t take long for Remy Zero’s ambiguous acoustica to find a home in the ears of Radiohead as well as — to a much, much lesser extent — Travis and Sting. No wonder. Situated against the youthful excesses of the British indie contingent or the shy “roots”-obsessed American underground, Villa Elaine shows the band off as duty-bound traditionalists. The doo wop dollop “Hollow” folds over your backside like a cozy blanket, with a march-like drumbeat and August Cinjun Tate’s best Thom Yorke karaoke impersonation. These songs echo a newly discovered idea for soft acoustic “rock” tunes. This is certainly true of “Gramarye” or the grumbling on “Wither Vulcan.” “Motorcycle” mixes some sensual, shackled, A Storm in Heaven-style guitar with a trickling (almost country) vocal. “Goodbye Little World” is a spry Beatlesque drill of strumming chords and homely reunion. – Dean Carlson
more »