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Fevers and Fireworks the first EP by The Soldier Thread, is a testament to just how fast the band has appeared (seemingly out of nowhere) in the past 6 months. Starting as the project of Justin McHugh (formerly “The Tourist”) and Todd Abels, the band in its present form includes Patricia Lynn and Drew Van Diver. Their sound is somewhat elusive, but try imagining a pretty modern punk-rock band sanded down into a more ambient form, topped with a good helping of electronic instrumentation. Got the picture in your head? Good, now make it twice as big - they’re from Texas after all.
The average debut EP is generally a flimsy attempt to capture whatever niche the band seems to have found during their live shows. Fevers and Fireworks, on the other hand, is more than just a souvenir for making a donation to the band. In fact, the gorgeous melodies and ambient soundscapes captured in these recordings represent some of the most original music in Austin.
The opening track, “Ten,” starts with calm, ambient slivers of noise that carefully creep around delayed piano chords before a soft vocal line and some bells enter nearly 2 and a half minutes in. The mood changes immediately with “Spin;” guitars wail in a rapid staccato like the culmination of a Nels Cline solo, the piano and drums in the background fill out the song with a beat that’s laid back, but has just enough energy to carry the song into the softer vocal sections. The vocals are all very delicate, mostly male-female duets and are often times used in an instrumental way, like in “A Drug Like This,” where the layered vocals create a droning effect. The title track shows the most interesting combination of electronic and acoustic drums, which is present in most of the other songs as well, though less predominantly.
If the originality of the sound is my favorite part about Fevers and Fireworks, then its alphabetical placement in my iTunes is a close second. Why? Because it segues right into Sonic Youth’s Sister (and quite frankly, anything that segues into “Sister” is a good thing, except maybe “Made in the USA,” but that’s another review�). And the two bands aren’t all that different in that the both defy conventional song structures and take an original approach to instrumentation, at least with regards to their respective scenes. Unfortunately, this comparison is also where the drawbacks of the EP begin to show.
Half of what I love about Sonic Youth is the imperfection: their guitar tones sound like something might be broken or breaking, even Kim Gordon’s voice sounds like she’s been drinking nails. The imperfections, though, are a sign of a human touch. Fevers and Fireworks, on the other hand, is nearly flawless, to the point that it sounds almost contrived. For the first few listens, this perfection is fantastic; the music is enjoyable, engaging, even catchy. But beyond that, it’s hard to dig deeper. Watching their live performance though, that human element involved in their music is more obvious, but without the visual aspect of seeing it the creation process, that aspect seems to get lost in a wash of bits and bytes.
That being said, however, Fevers and Fireworks, for all its perfections, is nothing short of gorgeous. The band is in the studio right now working on their next release (they say maybe another EP, hopefully a full-length). Fevers and Fireworks and the speed at which The Soldier Thread have risen to prominence (not to mention music in general) remind me of the tagline of Othello, an old board-game I used to play as a kid: “A minute to learn, a lifetime to master.” The Soldier Thread have developed something truly unique, it’s evident all over Fevers and Fireworks, but it takes time to master even one’s own creations.
Mp3 from Fevers and Fireworks:
The Silver
Website:
Myspace
