(Hidden Shoal Recordings)

Breathy pop offering from San Francisco trio

Following a two-year hiatus late last decade, San Franciscan trio The Caseworker reconvened in 2010 in their hometown to record their fourth album, Letters From The Coast. Guitarist, Conor Devlin, handles the bulk of the vocal work in his drowsy singsong voice, stylistically reminiscent of the likes of Jose Gonzales. From time to time, sister (and bassist) Eimer takes the reins, her breathy verses washing against the gentle guitar lines and Conor’s heavier choruses. Musically the trio have adopted an ambient pop aesthetic:  three-minute guitar-driven tracks, washed out, as if overexposed to the sun and salt of their eponymous coast. While this lends Letters From The Coast the kind of timelessness that faded handwriting and yellowed paper convey, it also makes nuance important. There is variation and stark beauty here, but it requires a certain degree of attention to fully appreciate and keep the tracks from overlapping and blurring.

NILS HAY

Be first to comment on this article

Write Comment
Comments are submitted for possible publication on the condition that they may be edited. Poster's IP addresses are logged.
Name:
Comment:
Code:*