Label: Vagrant - Rating: 4 Guns
Buy On:
This is music to sink your teeth into. Music to fall in love to. Music to…
Alright, let’s just get this out of the way: a song by Hurricane Bells was featured on the hotly anticipated Twilight: New Moon soundtrack and in the very first scene of the obsession-inducing flick.
The only band on the Twilight: New Moon soundtrack not by indie wonders like Death Cab for Cutie or Muse, “Monsters” is a breathy, synthy masterpiece, perfect for vamp lover Bella’s melancholy drives around Forks, Washington.
But sorry: that song’s conspicuously absent from “Tonight is the Ghost,” which is unfortunate. However, despite what might be a pretty bad marketing choice, Hurricane Bells’ debut disc isn’t lacking a damn thing (sorry, Twi-hards).
Hurricane Bells is actually a one-man wonder band, made up of former Longwave singer/guitarist Steve Schiltz and his laptop, but “Tonight” features nuances and emotions galore, indicative of the musician’s time in a full-size band as well as a hint of excitement at getting to express emotions that might get knocked down during a traditional recording session.
“I Can’t Remember” is a freaky standout, with Flaming Lips-esque ‘la la la’ background notes and a gorgeous, Beck-ish vocal focus. Cheeky, but in a way that doesn’t irritate. And beautiful, too, in that unclear, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it way that forests and rainstorms and ocean waves have mastered.
This mix of pretty and sad continues throughout “Tonight,” with Schiltz masterfully combining his rich high-then-low voice with the stuff of ProTools dreams, his choice of guitar and keyboard sounds tricking the listener into thinking there really is a five-piece band behind the guy. (Don’t miss the all-instrumental “Tenterhooks,” which, while featuring an entirely different sound, harkens back to the best Led Zeppelin live tracks, when Robert Plant stepped away from the mic for a bit and let the rest of the instruments do the singing).
Jangling like the Strokes and moping expertly enough to make Morrissey jealous – check out “Darkness is So Deep” for the ultimate love child of the two – Schiltz brings a certain adultness to indie rock: there’s a Sartre-copping feeling that life sucks, but also the Toni Morrison-type conviction that every false step makes the next one stronger and more assured.
Sure, there’s an undercurrent of sadness, of never having gotten over The One or – hey, this is indie rock – of not getting to H&M in time for the Sonia Rykiel collection, but luckily Schiltz is aware that eventually, it’s time to draw the curtains and get over it already.
Which is exactly what he does in “Freezing Rain,” a song with a title that harkens back to that former emotional downturn but sounds, instead, like the perfect thing for John Wayne to listen to while galloping around Hawaii, a mix of high-steppin’ beats and what sounds, interestingly, like a ukulele.
At once as deep as a Cullen and as superficial as the kids who follow their story, it’s no wonder “Tonight is the Ghost” landed on such a high-profile soundtrack. Though, unlike the actual film it’s featured in, Hurricane Bells actually deserves the attention.
Like Hurricane Bells? Try: Bright Eyes, The Smiths, The Strokes
