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Label: Vagrant - Rating:
Combining the DNA of a monkey and a jellyfish. Exploring the moon (again). Making the perfect dream-pop album.
Sure, some things probably aren’t necessary in the scheme of things. But there’s no denying that they make life far more interesting and, in the case of School of Seven Bells’ extended version of 2008’s “Alpinisms,” leaps and bounds more beautiful.
Full of atmospheric, ethereal tracks and Eastern influences, “Alpinisms” is indeed the perfect music for making like Mary Kate Olsen in The Wackness, as well as being the Holy Grail of extended-edition albums. It’s a disc that not only hits hard (well, actually they’re quite soft, but you get the point) on its original basic tracks but keeps on punching in the remixes and alternate versions of those songs.
After fleeing Secret Machines in 2007, Ben Curtis joined with fellow indie vets Claudia and Alejandra Deheza of On!Air!Library! – yes, they’re twins, but it’s less a publicity stunt in the vein of Tegan and Sara and more a perfect blending of vocals that only the combination of identical voices could create – to create School for Seven Bells. Since then, they’ve toured with Bat for Lashes, Interpol, and My Bloody Valentine, and the influence of those groups and others shows clearly through this foggy, daydream-inspiring pop.
Words traditionally associated with the sorts of musicians who wear peasant skirts and play 11-minute songs (here, the overly long in an “I need to do work but this daydream is too damn enjoyable” way is “Sempiternal-Amaranth”) like airy, ethereal, and spatial all apply here, but in no way do they mean that School’s music is superficial.
Clearly, their years in other indie bands allow Curtis and the Dehezas a depth that new artists can’t even attempt, imbuing tracks including “Iamundernodisguise” and “Connjur” with the lightness of a butterfly, but never forgetting the idea that even a butterfly flapping its wings can make a huge impact on things close and far away.
Where most extended albums fail is… well, in extending. Tracks become repetitive, and coy talk-breaks get old. But not here. Even tracks like “Wired for Light,” which need no help on the original disc, get an upgrade, adding even more Eastern influences and top-notch techno in the form of additional drumming and Curtis’ mean remixing abilities.
Any of the additional tracks could easily be the best song Massive Attack ever stuck in the background of an action movie.
Like the Argentinean pick-pocketing group the band named itself after, School for Seven Bells’ music sneaks in quietly but steals a little something every time it’s listened to (namely, the listener’s ability to listen to anything sub-par).
In the standout “White Elephant Coat,” a Death Cab For Cutie rocker with a bit of “It’s Blitz”-era Yeah Yeah Yeahs thrown in for some cred with the pacifier-wielding masses, singers Claudia and Alejandra coo, “I ask you, do you listen?”
And honestly, it’s tough not to.
Like School for Seven Bells? Try Bat for Lashes, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Crystal Stilts, My Brightest Diamond.
