Reighnbeau – Hands

May 1, 2014 • Bridgetown Records

What a difference two years can make. Okay, so Reighnbeau really isn't that different from when they released their last album Ashes, but am I glad I took the chance to look into them again. I liked Ashes quite a bit, but Hands is a fantastic followup and one shows some great growth for the band.

It's is still a slowcore album, for sure; the lolling tempos and dragging rhythms and gloomy atmosphere is all intact, and Reighnbeau is still one of the better bands to do this particular sound that I've heard (though I've never been a huge fan of the genre anyway). Again their focus on texture rather than songwriting is probably why they appeal to me so much, but man can they ever do texture well. That's not to say their songwriting is bad; there are quite a few songs here that are actually pretty engaging when the drums and well-defined chord progressions kick in (things like the climax of "Dust" with its heavy, driving sound are especially great).

Though I think they've really improved their skills with their sound. Hands mixes their old style with this hazy, slow, drugged-out, almost-psychedelic production, landing closer to the My Bloody Valentine end of the spectrum and farther from the Slowdive end. It's a bit radical compared to the clean and empty style on Ashes—although things never get so thick as to be overbearing, there's still a sort of wall-of-sound effect going on at times. It works pretty well, though, and they really use the production to their advantage to keep songs interesting. It becomes the kind of thing where you can just sit back and get lost in the sound as it washes over you. I'm not sure how I feel about the vocals, though; they're always at a near-whisper and mixed very low, so they often get lost in the fog. But maybe that's what they were going for.

But again I'm mostly talking out my ass because I don't listen to shoegaze or slowcore very much and when I do there are about two bands I actually enjoy. But regardless, this is still something I am liking, so it's got to be at least a little good for your average slowcore fan, right? I dunno.

Reighnbeau – Ashes

January 2, 2012 • Bridgetown Records

I can't say I know much about slowcore, even having been a fan of Red House Painters for a short time, but that's about as far as I've ever gotten. Reighnbeau's Ashes is, therefore, probably a horrible choice for me to review, even though it's quite a good album.

At the very least I can contrast it to Down Colorful Hill: Ashes is much more focused on the music and the mood than the lyrics, which I appreciate. The vocal delivery is very hushed and pushed back in the mix, bringing the moody, introspective guitar and rhythm section to the fore instead. On the whole it's a very dark and atmospheric take on slowcore—even though the production is pretty clean, there is a very oppressive and gloomy atmosphere over the whole thing from the hushed vocals and minimalist drumming. It's all very effective, especially when they bring other sounds into play like the subtle ambience on the title track or the woodwinds section on "Fingers". Somehow, it's even catchy at times, like the surprisingly major-key riff of "Snakes" and the more aggressive drum groove in "Restless".

Whereas other highly-acclaimed similar bands like Low get all the praise, I never liked how repetitive and stale their music was. Reighnbeau, on the other hand, never seems to get anywhere near as monotonous—and it really works, like I mentioned in the above paragraph. And consequently, despite its slow pacing, the album seems to fly by pretty quickly... I suppose that probably just means I like it more than anything, but I was surprised at the level of engagement I got with it.

Then again, it's from Bandcamp, the legendary website of neverending music gems, so I guess it's par for the course. Anyway, it's good stuff, so go stream away.

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