Friday, August 15, 2008

Album Review - High Places

High Places – 03/07- 09/07
[Thrill Jockey; 22/07/2008]


High Places are yet another bank spawning out of the creative woodwork otherwise known as Brooklyn, New York. Mary Pearson and Robert Barber front this duo with a coalesced ear for sound. 03/07- 09/07 is the pair's debut effort of tunes that bend with the breeze and run at a parallel to your stock standard pop outfit.

High Places are a band that aren't adamant on cutting a single. This 28 minutes is a answers first, questions later stab in the dark that presents subtle undertones of cleverness. Barber's techniques of slicing up sounds and sparsely filling them through this effort is backed by Pearson's aloof vocal that has a firm grip on pop, despite burying itself into the shades of sound Barber distantly renders. Highlights include opening trend setter, 'Head Spins (Extended Version)', while 'Shared Islands' expresses a love for foreign beats, with a Caribbean undertone clearly taking a strangle hold of High Places' sound template.

O3/07-09/07 is the phantom of fellow crosstown rivals, Liars, while the nursery rhyme-esque weeps from Mary Pearson aren't too far away from Elanor Friedberger of The Fiery Furnaces, but delivered with a finesse that's a little easier to swallow. Although things culminate within the blink of an eye, High Places may have just made the ultimate pre-bedtime album. One thing's for certain; it sure beats a glass of milk.

Lullaby Recommended

By Simon K

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