ZapTown

The Depreciation Guild
Spirit Youth
Kanine Records
Rating: 3 out of 5

Links:
The Depreciation Guild: http://www.thedepreciationguild.com/
Kanine Records: http://kaninerecords.com/

If King Diamond’s 1987 release “Abigail” is the quintessential heavy metal gothic-horror concept album, The Depreciation Guild’s Spirit Youth would represent the other side of the coin as the greatest gothic romance album to date.  These songs call out images of running through dark houses and snow, oaths of love, pining, bittersweet memories, and lots of dreaming.  Simply pigeon-holing this album as easy as a Pains of Being Pure at Heart side-project runs the risk of dismissing one of the best releases of 2010.

The Guild’s first full-length release, “In Her Gentle Jaws”, was unique in that it seamlessly melded 8-bit Nintendo tracks with guitars in such a way that it caused the attentive listener to appreciate how deftly the two styles were fused.  With “Spirit Youth” the synthesis of style advances far enough along that casual listeners may never detect the chiptunes 8-bit foundations, the addition of shoegaze influences, or the string-theory like connection between the songs via their lyrics.  However, what everyone will immediately notice are the incredible chord changes that set each song apart from one another.  The song structures are enough to grab anyone’s attention as they hook you throughout and, like paging through a good book, compel you to listen to the next song.

The threads connecting each song are subtle:  “Dream About Me” mentions snow flakes which connects to “Through The Snow” which speaks of a conscious dream.  This sort of lyrical string theory permeates the album through images of spirit houses and spirit youth, snow and running through it, dreams, and ultimately – love.

Spirit Youth takes time to fall in love with.  To further the gothic romance analogy, when you first meet the material you might find it ugly or slight (my own initial experience with the album was disappointment).  The slight vocals of Kurt Feldman isn’t something to try after listening to Pontiak, and the lack of a bass guitar makes it challenging to rock out to.  However, like the arc of Jane Eyre’s relationship with Edward Rochester, the more time you spend with the material and get to know it, the more you will find it difficult to live without.  I hated Jane Eyre in high school, but in the final analysis there’s some heavy shit going down in that novel.  Multiple listens of “A Key Turns” and further exploration of the other tracks should reveal the same conclusion about Spirit Youth.

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