wilson and joy - To The End of the world

Wilson And Joy 

To The End Of The World
Ear to Ear records; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

The year was 2003 and ITunes had just been released and we just finished watching “Finding Nemo” and at the same time Phil Wilson and Marc Joy met that summer when Phil approached Marc to master an album he had completed. A long story short they had similar musical tastes including My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Jesus and Mary Chain and found they were also compatible when working on music together. Ten years later and four albums deep they are still making music with their latest EP called To The End Of The World” The duo makes polished shoegaze with pop sensibilities that people who aren't fans of the genre will be able to enjoy.

For instance, the opening track “To The End Of The World” begins with only a few instruments including acoustic guitar, vocals and other worldly cosmic-sounding synths. The vocal melody carries a catchy tune that is easy to latch onto. Even when the band explodes halfway (sounding more like Asobi Seksu than My Bloody Valentine) through the lead synth parts are bright and extremely appealing to even the most cynical of music fans.

The second song, “Cross To Bare,” gets down to business right away with all the instruments in full force. Everything from the distorted, delayed guitar to the vocals sound pristine - making for an even more rewarding experience if you are listening to it on a nice pair of headphones or speakers. While not my favorite song I have to say the lead guitar solo sounded more apt for a hard rock song than the style they were bringing to the table here. “Isabel” was the standout on this four-song EP for me. It feels more anchored in the genre as the vocals were a bit lower in the mix and dosed in a fair amount of reverb. The trudging bass line is only accentuated by the drum work during the verse. The song starts to soar at the end, as it became a blur of bright sounds. The EP ends with “A Little Help” which had the most inventive sounds on the album such as the drum beat which consisted of a lot of intriguing tom work. As well as being inventive it is arguably also the catchiest. 

This short EP has a lot of fine moments mixed in with some that are just ok. Ultimately, Wilson and Joy will  appeal to fans who like an eclectic variety of music.

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