Review: Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lose
[Barsuk; 2014]
Rating 8.5/10
By Zack Baker, Editorial Director
Key Tracks: "XR," "Child Bride," "Laramie"
Cymbals Eat Guitars have always been kind of a nerdy band. The guitar parts have always sounded more like masochistic finger exercises than anything resembling a simple chord progression; the lyrics can be obtuse and tangled; even the band's name is an obscure Lou Reed reference. With Lose, the band demolishes anything and everything that might give the casual listener an excuse to write them off.
Before the end of album opener, "Jackson," you realize that this isn't the Cymbals Eat Guitars you knew. Pop sensibilities seep through all over the place: the way the song ebbs and flows to clearly define the choruses against the verses, sections where the guitar is content to simply strum chords--things that were so rare on earlier material are on clear display here. And that's how the album starts. It's a huge statement of confidence from the band in their refined sound, and the band has plenty of reason to be confident.
Front to back, Lose is absolutely gorgeous. The songs are crammed with emotion and intensity, the production is impeccable and the band never gets stuck on one sound for too long. There's some country-punk, a few acoustic singer-songwriter moments and plenty of the loud, guitar-centric indie rock the band has always been masterful at. Everything about this album feels meticulous, even the bits that seem completely off the rails.
Overdriven to hell and back scorcher "XR" has the perfect amount of country-punk flair added into the mix (think the latest Black Lips album or iceage's "The Lord's Favorite") to make the already careening guitars feel totally out of control. That track opens with a harmonica, which is never something you would have heard on an older Cymbals album.
As that track speeds off into the distance, something entirely different takes its place. A gentle, floating melody slowly comes together in the wreckage "XR" leaves behind. While "Place Names" eventually finds some bite of its own, it begins in a very gentle way. Those hard swings make up the lifeblood of Lose, and they're always executed perfectly. The constant interplay between the fragile and the immediate makes the album constantly compelling.
The back half of the album is generally softer and a bit slower, as most albums tend to be. The shimmering, deeply personal "Child Bride" is the highlight of the album's slower cuts, loaded with impressive orchestral instrumentation and harmonies.
"Laramie" winds things back up gradually, opening with vocalist Joseph D'Agostino flexing his falsetto skills over super shimmering guitars and by the end of the (admittedly lengthy) song, the band is in full on fuzz-psych freakout mode. And that transition happens so naturally; there's something really special in the band's ability to switch gears without sounding forced or corny or like they're just ticking off some kind of sonic checklist.
After "Laramie," the album kind of drifts into some weird spots (the Springsteen vibes on "Chambers" feel a little out of place) and loses some of the momentum, but the songs stay strong. The last handful of tracks are definitely the album's weak point, but that's more of a testament to how arresting the rest of Lose is.
As "2 Hip Soul" fades out, it's hard to not go straight back to the top and listen again. And again. Okay, just one more time. That's an impressive feat and Lose is a shining example of an album that reveals new things on each new listen. People are going to lump this album in with other '90s-reminiscent indie, probably say that it sounds a lot like Guided By Voices or Built To Spill and they'll be right. But Lose is so much more than the sum of its influences--it's the sound of a band letting the world know who it is.
