Customer Reviews

Treble & Tremble

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After two albums of mediocre Pixies-esque rock, Earlimart changed their sound so completely that you couldn't even tell it was the same band -- creating "Everyone Down Here," a slice of mellow, Grandaddy-esque pop. And their fourth album "Treble and Tremble" continues that trend, but refines their sound as a bittersweet, lush ode to Elliott Smith.

The sound: Gentle acoustic pop-rock with a few haunting sonic sweeps, and vocals that sound like they're singing a perpetual lullaby. "Valley People" is forty seconds of undulating experimentation, and songs like "A Bell and a Whistle" linger on as gentle, pensive spacey folk songs that sound a bit like Grandaddy B-sides.

Some songs like the gritty "Sounds" take a rock-ier edge, with a blurred bass running behind the fast guitar riffs. But then at the chorus it becomes softer, and about two thirds through it slows down into a meandering melody. The roiling "Unintentional Tape Manipulation" sounds like an album recorded in a haunted house.

A melancholy thread runs through "Treble and Tremble." Their last album didn't really have much of a unifying theme, but now Earlimart's focus seems to be on loneliness and lack of communication. It's a sign of a more mature band if their music is not only evolving, but their songwriting is as well.

Heavy stuff, and apparently was inspired by late, much-lamented musician Elliott Smith, who was a neighbor of Earlimart's Aaron Espinoza, and whom the album is dedicated to. This textured, poignant album seems even more so when you think of Smith: "I said goodbye/to my whole family/I hope they'll miss me/as much as you." Espinoza seems to be almost asking Smith -- too late -- to hang on because he cares.

And after the radical change in sound, they seem more settled and polished in this outing, possibly due to Grandaddy's Jim Fairchild. Yes, they sound like Grandaddy in their softer tracks. But they also forge their own new paths in psychedelica, such as the distorted, fuzzy, lurching rock of "Unintentional Tape Manipulation." It shows that they aren't just imitating the robot-rock sound.

Most of the softer, poppier tracks are slow, careful mixtures of piano, watery synths and acoustic guitar, occasionally with what sounds like violins and some merely okay percussion. What it has going for it is that this time is that the arrangements are more complex and layered, rather than just being guitar with a few synths sprinkled on top.

Espinoza's distant vocals sound strangely intimate, and the songs are even more complex than they were before. Okay, they're still really simple, but it's a simplicity that speaks of sad honesty rather than a lack of songwriting talent. "You found yourself/some mental health/but don't forget to write/and stay home at night..."

Earlimart hasn't sounded this good since... well, ever. "Treble and Tremble" is a moving, beautiful experience, and -- once you know about Smith and Espinoza's friendship -- a bittersweet one. For anyone who has loved, and lost, and thought back on both.

This album is, as the other review says, truly haunting and beautiful. Most of the time, I have to play a new album for awhile to really love it. From the first play, Treble and Tremble grabbed me and I've not taken it out of my cd player since. If you're a fan of Elliott Smith and the like, I highly recommend picking this up!

First off I loved Everyone Down Here (Earlimarts last record). It is far more experimental than their latest offering, Treble and Tremble. On this one Earlimart are playing it safe and delving more into texture rather than loading tracks down with Grandaddyesque whirs and clicks. The record eventually settles down into one beautiful sigh. I read some reviews from other magazines and they trashed it for lack of originality..Really? t Earlimart are stylistically similar to Dios, Grandaddy, Pinback, and The Shins. They are not the Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, or The Beach Boys..I did read a few of the reviews and laughed. Frthermore with Aaron Espinoza's vocals coming out as a subtle whisper he does share some similarities with Elliot Smith..Is that a bad thing? It could be worse his vocals could mimic Justin Timberlake or Dee Snyder..Bottom line: The music is FRIGGING Beautiful..Standout tracks: First Instant Last Report, The Hidden Track, All They Ever Do Is Talk, A Bell and a Whistle, and Heaven Adores You. The lone exception is the dated Lynard Skynard mating with Neal Young on Broke the Furniture. I think I've heard that guitar hook somewhere before. Like in a gazillion other classic rock tracks. One bad song, hmmm just buy it.

Although I bristle a bit at comparisons (usually), Earlimart's "Treble and Tremble" conjures bits of Elliott Smith's vocal delivery, Grandaddy's urban-sprawly submerged rhythmic chug, and Dios (Malos)'s sun-warped pop song structures -- and I mean this in the most complimentary way.

There are less jiggly keyboards and punky outbursts than Grandaddy and more of an emphasis on acoustic guitar-based tunesmithing; less pathos than Smith but just as much grain and development to the emotional content; possibly a more seasoned approach to production than Dios. And while touchstones abound, Earlimart has created an album of lasting beauty that dovetails nicely with a quiet summer day and an unfiltered wheat beer, perhaps. Or a slightly brewed-too-strong coffee.

"T&T" is a bit of a sleeper album -- while the melodies and songs don't necessarily jump out of the speakers and announce themselves, they do burrow slowly into your consciousness and make a cozy nest after a couple listens. Going on a long roadtrip? Well T&T might not be the album that will keep you awake late at night on I-80 -- but it is ideal for listening to when you reach your destination. Even if your destination is just the back porch.

The first time I heard this cd, I was minding my own business at a bookstore in Houston. I was suddenly hit with 'Hold On Slow Down' which generated an intense sadness as I too had just lost a very good friend to drugs. I was trying to sip hot coffee as well but you tend to shake a little when the tears are swelling up in your eyes. Ouch! Burned hands. 'First Instant Last Report' is my favorite though because it IS the smile shinning through those crocodile tears. I recommend it! (Not crying and burning your hands but buying this cd.)

Forget what you've heard about Earlimart's "Treble & Tremble" being a rip-off of Elliott Smith and forget the Pixie past. Earlimart has something better than that for you in "Treble & Tremble"

T&T is certainly in the same vein as Elliott's soulfull, heartwrenching, lyrical piano and acoustic driven songwriting. But it is no clone. Earlimart instead works within the genre Smith pioneered to produce something familiar, yet still original. Songs such as "All They Ever Do Is Talk" and "Heaven Adores You" are the most remeniscent of Smith's style on the album, yet they are good in their own right: not as immitation but homage.

Though Aaron Espinoza is certainly lyrically talented, he can of course in no way replace or compare with Elliott's significance and style. But he is willing to bring an experimental element listeners should find to be significant in the development of a unique style for the band. Particularly fascinating to me are two songs: "Sounds" which is a great rock-out piece echoing a bit of Pedro the Lion. But most intriguing is "Unintentional Tape Manipulations," a crazed mix of distortion, noise, acoustic guitar, and haunting vocal filtering that makes for something truly original and fascinating to listen to.

I enjoyed Everyone Down Here so much and felt it was a very worthy debut for this band. They took some leaps and bounds to create this beautiful record.

It aches my stomach with how great "The Hidden Track" is, complete bliss and sets you up for a good feeling on the rest of the album. Where as the rest of the album clicks and misses upon first listening. But I find the best stuff is when you hear it a couple of times, usually when a great album sinks in it gets flooded.

No matter how many times I hear "The Hidden Track" I just go to pieces. This is quite the masterful follow up if you ask me.

This album is magnificent. Earlimart has gone from college echoe rock to beautiful piano enriched indie space rock. I can see the Grandaddy influences from the producer, adn Elliot Smith's influences also.

I am a fan of Smith's and was actually at the last live performance he ever gave before he died at the University of Utah Redfest last year. This album truly makes me weep. Anybody who has lost somebody will be tocuhed by this music. It is not overly depressing either, in fact it is kind of hopeful and positive. Even the Tape Manipulations song isn't as bad as many have said. It helps add dimension to this album.

Overall this is a very well thought out and executed album that resonates with agony, beauty, and hope.

First off, I know nothing about this band or the guy who died who has been mentioned in other reviews, so I can't compare this cd to their past works. This cd was being played in my local Barnes & Noble one day and piqued my interest so much I decided to buy it.

I am a collector of 80's cd's of tecno/goth/new wave etc... and this cd had alot of that sound. Musically it has the sound of Love & Rockets. The vocals sound alot like The Jesus & Mary Chain. I am always looking for new stuff with an 80's sound to it and this cd didn't disappoint me in that aspect.

The major problem that I have had with it was that many of the songs sound the same. Out of the first 5 or so tracks I have a hard time telling one from the next. Maybe that is just a matter of giving this cd more plays.

If you enjoy haunting vocals with a distortion sound of quitars you may want to check out this cd from Earlimart.

Jesus, you'd think Elliott Smith was the only artist who'd ever recorded a batch of beautiful melancholy songs. You naysayers need to get a grip and go check out the 30+ years of beautiful melancholic material that inspired and influenced Smith. Not exactly a new sound. But Earlimart does come from the same school and has a knack for crafting gorgeous hypnotic piano-driven melodies. One of the year's best, hands-down. I can't stop listening to it.