The Great Depression - 'Unconscious
Pilot' (Fire Records LP)
(Nov
'03)
The Great Depression specialize in drone-pop, closest to a quiet Spiritualized or blusterless Verve. Gravel voices laid over dissonant guitars, each noise bleeding into one another; sinister piano running all over the top of this grey soundscape - they've easily chosen a fitting name. Often, the mood is oppressive but compulsive. The choppy rhythms of ‘Two Is Fine’ are crowned by vocals slurred and drawled in an appropriate haze, while ‘Meet the Hapsburgs’ is a captivating, filmic instrumental. It builds up a nicely contemplative atmosphere, before the odd step out into ‘The Sargasso Sea’. This track opens with a fanfare of horns more suited to a TV theme, though it makes a pleasant (if twee) diversion – “you blew into your sails, like there wasn’t far to go.”
Far from being unconscious pilots themselves, this Minneapolis band have crafted a debut of serious appeal. Having worked with a list of indie-household names as big as a house - Breeders, Luna, even They Might Be Giants – it’s only a surprise that their own music is not more well-known.
