False Cathedrals

Album review

Elliott is playing rock in a dramatic fashion. Having thrown typical sound mixing out the window, they have sought to transition themselves into something new and remarkable by bringing vocals, bass, and drums up in the mix and pushing the guitars down. Chris Higdon's vocals are tragic, yet reassuring; depressing, yet glorious. The bass, guitar, and drums are there, too, but the vocals are most mesmerizing. Everything flows together beautifully behind that impressive voice. Heartbreaking and expansive, Elliott's False Cathedrals grows as each song passes. Largely scoped for a darker, driven record too often wanted but not performed to quite such a degree of perfection, False Cathedrals satisfies many fans searching for something akin to Radiohead's unique creativity but in a more indie rock manner. Nevertheless, there is a secret to listening to this. False Cathedrals is made for all lonely people, it seems. For some reason, the thought of listening to it with another person seems incomprehensible. False Cathedrals displays the sadness and awesome greatness of a band like the Cure. Similar to much of the Cure's darker material, Elliott has the ability to evoke feelings and responses from painful pasts and lonely nights. Utilizing a large, rock & roll drum-driven sound, Elliott showcases a band on the verge of accomplishing great things by doing something as simple as changing the engineering of an album.

© Kurt Morris /TiVo