Dead Mellotron Winter EP
I have to be honest : I think Dead Mellotron are an amazing Shoegaze band. They put down a sound so ethereal and reverberating that they have the exalting, all-encompassing quality of Slowdive but in a lighter mood. Unfortunately, frontman and multi-instrumental wizard Josh Frazier’s interest in the project is waning. Since label Sonic Cathedral couldn’t release it within the desired time-frame, “Winter 2014” was self-released and made available for download on Bandcamp, but that was about it….. According to Josh it will probably be the last thing they will ever release : this is sad news, but it is how it is. Despite the booming Shoegaze revival, a project or band naturally survives as long as you “ feel the love” so to speak….. you basically continuously have to shout your name on all media and push your music to the front until people can’t get around it. Alas, not every artist has the nature of a PR predator.
Well it is winter again, albeit a year later, but I still would like to draw some attention to the beauty that is Winter 2014. It simply is too precious and too good to be ignored or forgotten in 2015:
The opening track is simply called “Intro” but to describe it, words fall short. It was the first track I ever heard by Dead Mellotron and instantly got me hooked forever. “Intro” makes you feel like falling into the sky and gives you that warm feeling you get on a cold, wintry day when the air is thin and the landscape looks otherworldly. “Intro” slides down snowy slopes and culminates into an avalanche of feedback and then screeches to a halt.
We wake up with “ Totaled” and find ourselves in an ( Stereolab-esque drone) uptempo road movie where pale shimmering images pass us by on the way to an unknown destination.
We arrive at a place “All Gray” yet euphoric. Crisp, jangly guitars , languid faraway vocals , emphatic drums beautifully blend an come together at this terminal in heaven. Time to throw those snowballs!
In “ Who Else” we put our feet up and drowse away in front of the roaring chorus fire, just before the “Sleepover” that is Dead Mellotron dreamier than ever : slow strumming guitars, synths like lulling bells and echoing vocals that entrance and fade more and more into the background as the guitars gradually take over and it all swirls into sweet nothingness like images into the past.
I do hope sincerely that this doesn’t apply to Dead Mellotron…otherwise we have to wait patiently for the Josh Frazier’s next project. What did he say ? I Wanna start a 60’s girl group, but it is 2015 and I’m a boy .
