Record Review: Creeper Lagoon-Remember the Future EP
Robbie Wickstrom
Issue date: 4/3/03 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Marked with the title of the best new band of 2001 after their debut full-length, "Take Back the Universe" and "Give Me Yesterday", Creeper Lagoon was automatically burdened with unrealistic expectations forced on bands called such names.
Even considering that only one member of the previous incarnation of the band, vocalist Sharky Laguna, performs on the new EP, a more gorgeous, coherent collection of songs you'd be hard pressed to find. Although Remember the Future only contains five songs, each track is a gem. Recorded in a series of basements, garages, and a discount studio, the sound is still amazingly authentic, drifting into a lo-fi hum without sacrificing any quality or clarity.
The whole work has a laid back Pacific feel to it. The multiple layers of instruments build gradually in the songs, supplementing each other. "There's A New Girl", opens with a sparse acoustic ring and Laguna's uniquely soothing baritone. As the song progresses, harmony vocals, elaborate percussion, conservative keyboards, and finally a driving electric guitar appear in sequence, giving the song a cascading quality.
Other favorites include "So Little To Give", featuring layered falsetto vocals with impressive guitar lines, and "Crisis", an uptempo closer with a mild distortion to it.
While often skeptical of EP's, this one is better than most full albums. It is one that will refuse to leave your stereo and one of those rare CD's that seems fit to listen to through any mood or occasion.
FOR FANS OF: Doves, Beck, Love and Rockets
Even considering that only one member of the previous incarnation of the band, vocalist Sharky Laguna, performs on the new EP, a more gorgeous, coherent collection of songs you'd be hard pressed to find. Although Remember the Future only contains five songs, each track is a gem. Recorded in a series of basements, garages, and a discount studio, the sound is still amazingly authentic, drifting into a lo-fi hum without sacrificing any quality or clarity.
The whole work has a laid back Pacific feel to it. The multiple layers of instruments build gradually in the songs, supplementing each other. "There's A New Girl", opens with a sparse acoustic ring and Laguna's uniquely soothing baritone. As the song progresses, harmony vocals, elaborate percussion, conservative keyboards, and finally a driving electric guitar appear in sequence, giving the song a cascading quality.
Other favorites include "So Little To Give", featuring layered falsetto vocals with impressive guitar lines, and "Crisis", an uptempo closer with a mild distortion to it.
While often skeptical of EP's, this one is better than most full albums. It is one that will refuse to leave your stereo and one of those rare CD's that seems fit to listen to through any mood or occasion.
FOR FANS OF: Doves, Beck, Love and Rockets