Rain as Spiritual Condition
Seattle indie-rockers Lucy Bland go ‘Down to Sea Level’ at Tangier
By Bliss 04/02/2008
If you pureed the music of “Felt Mountain”-era Goldfrapp and Zero 7 with a hiccupping synthesizer and a plunking toy piano in some kind of fantastical blender, what you’d get might sound like Seattle indie-rock ensemble Lucy Bland. (Who bear nothing more in common with the British sexology academic than the same name.)
More playful and lo-fi than the above comparisons might suggest, Lucy Bland the band is fronted by guitarist and songwriter Cat Biell. Lyrically, her concerns on the band’s newly released CD “Down to Sea Level” are standard-issue: romance, self-questioning and -determination. What makes Lucy Bland’s music refreshing to jaded ears is the textural contrast of electronic beats and effects with swoony violin and cello, the unapologetic sweetness of pledges like “May Say” and the nostalgic “Rewrite,” and the philosophical poetry best expressed in “Blueprints”: “I am drawing the blueprints for next year/ I’ll be sure to design more time for my thoughts to clear/ And sometimes you have to know when you are strong/ And sometimes you have to know when you are not/ I’m climbing the tower of my disregards/ I’ll come down when I figure it all out…”
Images of water and nature figure heavily in Biell’s songs, whether she’s singing about “the winding shore” on lead-off track “Sea Level,” or contemplating “Crashing Waves” or the changing nature of love and geography on “Venice” and “The Bridge.” Even the mysterious instrumental “Plumb” is ornamented with blips evocative of dripping faucets or steady sheets of rain dancing on a roof.
Biell’s gentle musings are given musical flesh by organist Tim Stedman, violinist/cellist Katie Mosehauer, programmer/guitarist Todd Waller and drummer Chris Icasiano. Their winsome, electronically accented pop has sometimes been pushed under the “folktronic” umbrella, but that term is ultimately reductive when considered alongside the hopeful buoyancy of several of their tunes.
It isn’t much of a stretch to suggest that rain isn’t just weather for Lucy Bland, it’s virtually a spiritual condition. Their earnest confections are informed in spirit if not in fact by water: rain, rivers, oceans, tears, the ripple effect of puddles and waves, the ultimate connectedness of all living organisms. Watery guitar, reverb-drenched organ and harmonies all contribute to the overall dreamy vibe of pop that pairs well with rainy days or starry nights.
Lucy Bland play Tangier, 2138 Hillhurst Ave., Los Feliz, 7:45 p.m. Sunday; they’ll be followed by My Imaginary Friends, Taylor Goldsmith and Herman Dune. $10 admission. Call (323) 666-8666) for details. www.myspace.com/lucybland, lucybland.com.
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