Review: Fleeting Joys | Occult Radiance [MP3]

We've been talking about it for more than a year, but the sophomore record from Fleeting Joys is finally here. The elephant in the room when discussing the superlative Northern California-based shoegaze duo is the similarity between its music and the most well-known and inflential portion of My Bloody Valentine's body of work. It bears mentioning and is a useful shorthand, but we expect Fleeting Joys' John Loring and Rorika grow weary of the obvious comparison (they list MBV first among their influences at MySpace) even as they are gratified by it. The aural similarity has led to some pretty silly behavior by seemingly well-intentioned fans. Those who take the time to scrutinize will find Fleeting Joys are more forthcoming with a melodic hook than Kevin Shields' legendary quartet, and while Fleeting Joys don't rush albums out, the duo has released two in the last few years, which is two more than Mr. Shields has released in about two decades. If you are a fan of painstakingly architected and beautifully realized guitar music that bends, pounds and pulses, Fleeting Joys have a lot to offer, particurly on this latest collection.

And of course, listeners who refuse to accept the easy comparison will find there's quite a few bands to which one can point. It's hard to say in which direction the influences may flow, but the crushing opener "The Angels Cannot See You Now" recalls fellow California-based psych-rockers The Warlocks. "Into Sun + Dark" hints at the beginning of Crooked Fingers' cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure," but instead of shifting into a traditional rock/pop form "Into Sun + Dark" persists in glimmering, sparkling, drifting in on itself and burrowing under layers and layers of processed guitars. "Dearly Sedated" modulates the main riff of The Swirlies' "Park The Car By The Side of The Road" and adds menacing intensity with pounding, black sheets of sound.

We haven't heard anything about a single being released, but Fleeting Joys has a perfect a-side/b-side pairing in tracks two and three on the new set, the uptempo, pop-leaning strummer "You Are The Darkness" and "Cloudlike Mercury." Both are album highlights, particularly the former. Fleeting Joys released Occult Radiance domestically through its own Only Forever Recordings Aug. 27. Occult Radiance was released in Japan in January on Thomason Sounds with a different track listing and mix. The U.S. release has two additional songs, the aforementioned "The Angels Cannot See You Now" and "Dearly Sedated." The Japanese release is still something of a collector's item, however, as it contains "Closer To My World Without Pain," which is not on the domestic issue. Fleeting Joys debut Despondent Transponder was issued in 2006 and is now out of print. There's no proper freebie promo MP3 from Occult Radiance, but the band has graciously offered up the outtake "Golden Now." Check it out.

Fleeting Joys -- "Golden Now" -- Occult Radiance outtake
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[buy Occult Radiance from the band here]

Fleeting Joys: Internerds | MySpace | YouTube | Flickr

Today's Hotness: Look See Proof, J. Mascis, Lilys

>> AngryApe posts information here about a forthcoming fifth single from dynamite Hertfordshire, England foursome Look See Proof, whose music we gulped down from various blogs in recent months and thoroughly enjoyed. We're surprised we haven't mentioned them previously, frankly, but our archives have little incentive to lie. The quartet's spiky, upbeat indie rock recalls the best Bloc Party singles, so we have been keeping an eye out for a full-length. Look See Proof's new single "Do You Think It's Right?" b/w "Don't Say A Word" will have to do for now. The CD version of the single contains a third cut, "Casualty (Os Darkroom Remix)," that we're eager to hear as the original version of the single (released last August) is a peppy rocker with great harmonies. North London's year-and-a-half old Weekender Records releases "Do You Think It's Right?" March 24 in the UK, and it can be pre-ordered from 7Digital right here. It is interesting to note that Weekender will issue Shout Out Louds' "Tonight I Have To Leave It" single and Our Ill Wills album in the UK. Anyhoo, here's what we believe to be Look See Proof's first single for your enjoyment. You should hit the link to EMusic below and get all four of the singles they have there, particularly 2007's "Casualty."

Look See Proof -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" -- "Tell Me Tell Me Tell Me" b/w "Start Again"
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[buy Look See Proof singles from EMusic here]

>> We found a used import of a 2003 J. Mascis set The John Peel Sessions at Newbury Comics Sunday that we had never heard of before, and we enjoyed listening to it. The piece of Pavement's "Range Life" tucked in the medley that opens the set performed with The Fog (a/k/a Mike Watt and George Berz) was what grabbed our attention when we picked up the disc, but that is actually pretty forgettable. Although when Watt takes the vocal for the piece that is "In A Rut," that rocks pretty hard. The first five tracks were mixed by Kevin Shields, which is interesting, and we love the warbly treatment on the backing vocals of "Same Day," which is the best J. Mascis and The Fog jam hands down, in our opinion. The Peel Sessions version lacks the dense curtains of guitars that makes the More Light track so awesome, but the extra space yields Watt's bass playing more of the spotlight, which is nice. Despite the lack of guitar crunch, there is a lot of really nice soloing on these Peel tracks, particularly when Mascis deploys what we think is a whammy pedal to wondrous effect.

>> Lilys are selling t-shirts. We love the Lilys. So buy their shirts. The end.