Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Velvet Teen


The Velvet Teen are a diverse electronic/alt/rock group from California, whose style has shifted with every release. Originally formed as a side project of Judah Nagler and Logan Whitehurst, the band currently stands as a four-piece, with the unfortunate passing of founding member Logan Whitehurst to cancer.

This is one of those rare bands whose material sounds individual and unique with each release, making for a solid catalog of material...their second full-length, '
Elysium', for example, did-away with guitars completely, opting instead for strings/pianos as the forefront of their sound. Their earliest material was more electronic in nature (if you enjoy these posted, def track down their EPs), with a return to that style on their follow-up 3rd album, 'Cum Laude!' -- the difference being that all of the vocals are sung with vocal distortion/effects, with a quircky/progressive flow to their songs.

Highly recommend giving these a chance; both of these albums are highly-played in my library, the latter of the two being one of the most creative and unique albums I've heard -- if the vocal-stylings don't hit initially, I guarantee they'll stick upon repeated listens.

I'd also mention their new drummer (after the departure of Whitehurst) is highly overlooked -- dude has some amazing yet subtle chops that really separates '
Cum Laude!' from other electro/rock albums...just listen to "Tokyoto" below for an example...

And as an ode to Whitehurst, check out the song "Penning The Pennultimate" from their first release/EP, 'Comasynthesis', the only song he did solo vocals for. RIP, sir.



"Tokyoto"






Elysium
+++++++++++



Cum Laude!
+++++++++++
mind the graves


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