There are certain things in life that are impossible to explain, impossible to put into a simple word or phrase. There are certain things in the world that have a haunting beauty, and a certain something that takes you away to a place where the world stands still and all is dark and flush with beauty. Like standing on a beach on a summer night and listening to the drone of the waves crashing on the shore.
That is the beautiful mystery of being a human being. There are things that makes us feel peaceful and at one with our diminishing universe that are unattainable. Something that isn't tangible, something you can't hold in your hand and dissect it to discover its moving inner parts. It's hard to put into words, but this unexplainable feeling and emotion is essentially the essence of Thrushes.
Thrushes are a four-piece shoegaze/post-rock quartet from Baltimore, Maryland. Their style is straight forward melancholy indie shoegaze played at a moderate pace, but there's something special about what this band does. It's hard to pinpoint; there's a sense of Red House Painters, in that they weren't exactly breaking new ground or pushing the boundaries with their musical style, but did what they did so beautifully that their overall sound was amazing and heart-wrenching. Thrushes follow along this same path on Sun Come Undone: moderate rock drumming and shimmering guitars with plenty of post-rock crescendos.
Perhaps it's the vocals of Thrushes that set them apart. Singer/guitarist Anna Conner's voice is so soothing and full of gorgeous melodies that it just soars above the music with great triumph. Her voice puts you into that certain unexplainable place, the realm of the listener's emotions. Her voice is so soothing and beautiful, so vivid that you can almost identify with the notes she sings. Or perhaps it's the guitar style that makes them different than the rest. The guitars play rather simple melodies but are drenched in a beautiful combination of distortion and reverb that it soars and oozes from the amps like glorious summer rain or a creek in the forest floor.
The simplicity of Trushes' style doesn't necessarily push the envelope, which is probably the band's most noticable shortcoming. I can't say that there are any particular songs that stand out from the rest. Although their songwriting is solid, there is a lack of variety which I can help but feel the band could easily overcome, given their ability evident in the songs that are present. Nevertheless, an impressive album from a promising band—certainly one to keep an eye on.
-Kevin Savo