Hi-fi Drowning
Narci Darvish
Luminous
Here’s a suggestion: let’s move all the mindless pop songs on Modern Rock radio to the AM airwaves, so that bands like Hi-fi Drowning might lead the new breed of acid-rock revivalists to take over the FM band with their bittersweet anthems for underdogs and music to nod-out by. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, Hi-fi Drowning sound like one of those gifted-yet-self-deprecating guitar bands that college radio broke wide open back in the early ’80s. Unfortunately, these guys were born late, and it seems almost criminal that you are being kept from hearing songs like “Taking the World,” a slow, mirror-ball-spinning waltz, or “Therapy & Wine,” a soundtrack for the doomed romance that never quite got off the ground that’s pierced with a painfully gorgeous guitar bridge. “Breathe” is a lumbering dinosaur of badass space rock; “Re-Vital” flaunts spectral guitars that positively shimmer; and both “Fantastico” and “Formula One Way” are psychedelic enough to cause a contact high just from being in the room while they’re playing. Hallucinogenics recommended but not necessary. Thanks to producer Keith Cleversley, Narci Darvish travels easily in and out of Mercury Rev territory, draping the whole work in a muted wash of sonic opium. Also highly recommended if you like old Guadalcanal Diary, Chronic Town -era REM and early Pink Floyd.
Luminous Records, 2044 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, IL 60612; http://www.cleversley.com/luminous/lrhome.html
