Allow me to set the scene for you. I am sitting in my backyard with several friends on a temperate spring night. I have a cigar in one hand and a glass of single malt scotch in the other. We have just smoked a joint.* It is an altogether pleasant evening. I put in the latest CD I have for review. One of my friends turns to me and says, “This is the perfect music right now.” I don’t know if you will ever find yourself in a similar situation, but the album was Someplace Closer To Here, and the band was Lapush.
Lapush is a three piece from St. Louis, Missouri made up of Thom Donovan (vocals, guitar) and Brett Voelker (drums), who met while doing session work for bands like Stir. It wasn’t until they decided to move into the live realm that Kevin Bachmann (bass) was added.
I predict these guys will soon be the new indie darlings. They also have a mass appeal that will land their soft, dulcet, tones on such mass media as the OC. This will piss me off when I go to see their show and am surrounded by sixteen-year-old girls. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that I like music that appeals to sixteen-year-old girls.
So why was it the perfect music for that evening? Put yourself there, and imagine what you would like to hear. Heavy Metal? Punk Rock? Stop reading right now and select another review. I’m thinking of something mild. It’s quiet and it’s dark out. Thom singing softly in a slightly raspy voice over an acoustic guitar fit the bill quite nicely.
The entire album is subdued, yet full of clout. Dance party it is not, but if you enjoy the simple, yet beautiful songwriting of a Death Cab For Cutie, then you will probably enamored with Someplace Closer To Hear. The electronic aspects are added with a deft touch, nicely complimenting the vocals and chord progressions. “Lucky One” is something of a departure from the rest and has a much more pronounced bass line, a squealing guitar, and spacey noises that float from one speaker to the next. “Hideaway” was supposedly inspired by the musical score of the movie “Lost in Translation,” which should give you some idea of the song’s personality.
Lapush have been described as “an American Coldplay,” and I could agree since most of the band’s influences seem to derive from across the pond. Someplace Closer To Here is the bee’s knees, crafted with a familiar sound that strays far from predictability and boredom, striking a heart felt chord with a catchy, pop sensibility. This, I believe, will lead to their aforementioned rise and downfall in my mind. So all you hipster, indie kids, go out and grab it now while the getting’s good.
*This was of course, for medicinal purposes only. For all you Feds reading this during your Starbucks break, we do not know where Ian lives. Stop parking your dry cleaning van in front of our office and go home.
