Search

ARCHIVES
CONTACT US
WORLD NEWS

Six By Seven: The Closer You Get

Four stars

With their sophomore release, England's Six By Seven have crafted a gorgeous, meditative pop gem.

Their first album, The Things We Make, garnered critical raves and comparisons to shoegazer gods My Bloody Valentine, but sold poorly in the U.S. and abroad.

Though The Closer You Get does not have any radio-ready singles, and almost certainly will not sell in great numbers, the band's sound - alternately atmospheric, dissonant and shimmering - is far more compelling than most other artists working today.

On "Sawn Off Metallica T-shirt," the slashing, distorted guitars and lo-fi vocals recall Chavez's anti-pop masterpiece Gone Glimmering, while elsewhere there are spacey echoes of OK Computer-era Radiohead and even some of the psychedelic expansiveness of A Storm in Heaven-era Verve.

However, the band is more than the sum of its influences. Chris Davis' rhythmically varied drumming and Chris Olley's crying vocals and clever lyrics individuate the band, separating them from the rest of the dream-pop crowd.

"How can I miss you if you won't go away," complains Olley on "My Life is an Accident." The song inexorably builds and builds, adding layers of guitars to Olley's keening voice until the band reaches a pounding, emotional climax.

The album's centerpiece is the achingly beautiful "England and a Broken Radio," contrasting bell-like, reverb-drenched guitars with Olley's distorted voice.

The album's first half is a dissonant and jagged shard of noise-rock, while the second half assumes a cinematic, solemn tone. As a whole, the album stands as a mesmerizing pop document, revealing itself through repeated listens as dense and complex.