We Leave at Midnight

Terror Flora EP

Written by: BV on 26/10/2015 19:39:19

We Leave at Midnight is an outfit I have not previously acquainted myself with. In all honesty they’re one band of many, whom I have yet to be acquainted with as the sheer magnitude of bands relevant to my interests is gradually becoming a too big monitoring job for me to do alone. Yet, somehow along the way their EP “Terror Flora” popped into my mailbox, promising an eclectic blend of psych-rock and shimmering indie tunes.

What I am then greeted by on the EP’s opening track, “Everyone Laughs at Their Own Mistakes”, is a track that is nothing short of brimming with sounds. The track trots along as a mid-tempo mash-up of an abundance of different influences, as it seems to grow in sounds as it comes near a close. The vocal approach is very seventies-related in the sense that the purpose seems to relaying their drug-tinged vibe of near-ecstasy. To be honest there is actually far too much going on for the band’s own good, at times. Influences like The Flaming Lips and Spoon pop to mind, and where the former thrives on too much going on at once, and often times makes sense of the chaotic soundscape, We Leave at Midnight seem to not yet be able to harness the same results from the approach.

I won’t lie; songs like “Terror Flora” and “Run to the Ocean” are worth a listen and are quite decent examples of latter-day psych pop tinged with shimmering indie tendencies. But they aren’t quite more than that. It’s as if We Leave at Midnight have yet to actually find some sense of direction in the swirling sea of influences wreaking havoc around them, before they can channel their somewhat interesting songwriting into a more focused, gripping version of themselves, as most of the elements to make a banger of a psych-pop record are present (in abundance at times).

So what is my verdict on this new(ish) EP from We Leave at Midnight? Well, it’s always fantastic to see a bunch of skilled musicians throwing themselves at a musical styling I hold so dear. With that said, however, I have found myself growing more critical of this new wave of bands in recent times, due to the sheer amount of them. By that measure, had We Leave at Midnight been presented to me five or six years ago, I can imagine I would have been slightly more thrilled – but in these recent times where you can throw a couple of stones and hit twice that amount of psych-related bands with them, you sadly have to do that much more to set yourself apart. We Leave at Midnight aren’t quite there yet, but I do hear a lot of amazing sounds on here that the band can use to craft a magical full length album one day. Or so I’d like to believe.

Download: Terror Flora, Run to the Ocean
For the fans of: The Flaming Lips, Spoon, Pond
Listen: Facebook

Release date 26.05.2015
Texas is Funny Records


Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.