D’Evingere is an artist from Madison, WI who recently released a self-titled album DEvingere that contains eleven songs. It’s a stripped back album and also a very simple album from a musical standpoint. The songs contain distorted major and minor chords, 4/4 drum patterns and vocals. I was reminded of early garage and punk bands from the ’70’s that got by on only a couple of chords and a lot of attitude.
Things start off with “Sunset.” The drums sounded solid for a home recording; the distorted guitar was rather harsh with too many high frequencies. Luckily the guitar sounded better on the next song “Train to Nevada” which sounded like a mixture of American hard rock and Sex Pistols. As the album progressed the recording quality sounded different even though the instrumental stayed the same. Take for example the sonic imprint of a song like “Icebreaker” compared to “Dissonance.” There were a couple of standout tracks like “Abattoir” and “Neon Streets and Velvet.” This style of music requires hooks and I have to admit the vocal melodies didn’t jump out at me especially on first listen. The reason I can appreciate a band like The Stooges or Green Day is because of the energy and memorable melodies that will get stuck in your head. I think there were some solid, memorable melodies on the album but they weren’t easy to find. As a an engineer myself I think the most important thing for the artist to do moving forward is to work with a producer/engineer. These songs have a lo-fi bedroom feel and you really want, in my opinion, to have a more live sound that you have heard on countless punk and garage rock records from the ’70s. Additionally, an engineer (especially a mastering engineer) would be able to EQ and compress the songs in a way which would make them all have a similar tone and texture in addition to volume. The spirit and talent seemed to be there for this artist and I think there is some potential for him to come into his own. I look forward to his next release and I hope to hear more soon.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Critique/insightWe are dedicated to informing the public about the different types of independent music that is available for your listening pleasure as well as giving the artist a professional critique from a seasoned music geek. We critique a wide variety of niche genres like experimental, IDM, electronic, ambient, shoegaze and much more.
Are you one of our faithful visitors who enjoys our website? Like us on Facebook
Archives
May 2024
|