Daedalus Burn
Self-Titled
(Independently Produced)
Madison-based band Daedalus Burn brands itself as \the best post-punk-indie-rock-emo-disco jounce-pop band ever,"" and these genres all make themselves known at some point in their self-titled debut EP.
Elvis Costello's pop style comes out in their singing, a dance beat unites several of their tracks, and their playing is driven by a punk theme of guitars and drums. However, for their debut album, their ambitions seem far too outrageous. As a result, their talent is expressed only in bits and pieces rather than as a whole.
The chief problem in the album is the recording techniques, which sound like they try to emulate Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique, but can't get past being vague.
Rhythm guitar, bass and drums are all layered over each other, creating a sound that feels distorted and could use a little clean-up. The songs remain strong individually, particularly the jaunty ""Imitator and the Prototype."" The somewhat mumbled style however, begins to wear on listeners by the album's close.
While the album sound is blurred in a lot of places, the band's individual talents manage to break through and provide some real high points.
""In Case of Fire, Do Not Use"" has some sharp electric guitar and organ notes in the middle that provide a burst of clarity and the acoustic finger picking in ""Beautiful Believe"" starts the last track off perfectly.
Some fun sounds are also brought in, with ""India Ink"" opening with a castanet flourish and an electric piano bridge.
It is a shame that the lyrics don't come forward as much, because the band has a keen poetic sense. Phrases like ""Between the lines we've written innocence for malevolence"" and ""You're a careful white line on my blueprint / I've been playing the architect"" are clever and introspective, telling a good story under the noise.
If the vocals could be brought to the forefront of the tracks, there would be more of the ""simultaneous beauty and intensity"" the band website proclaims them to possess.
However, with the vocals merely whispers in the background they only feel like a supplement to the instrumentals.
Overall, Daedalus Burn makes a good impact to start out, but for a stronger debut they should have placed a little more emphasis on the vocals and backed off on the distortion.
The debut EP proves there is a lot of potential behind Daedalus Burn, and now all they need is more fuel for the fire.
