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.

The Depreciation Guild
In Her Gentle Jaws
Kanine Records
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

I’m pretty sure I saw one of the guys in the Depreciation Guild playing guitar for The Pains of Being Pure At Heart while they were on tour this spring.  As it turns out — after scouting around on MySpace —This is Kurt’s (drummer for TPOBPAH) other project and that other fellow I saw on stage with The Pains is Christoph.

I’m not as totally geeked by The Depreciation Guild as I am The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.  It’s a little cleaner and a little more electronic.  They share a similar mid-’80s frame of reference where influence is concerned. But where The Pains take pages from My Bloody Valentine and Jesus & Mary Chain’s songbook, The Depreciation Guild (as they say themselves) build a little more on Cocteau Twins.

The vocals are a little more precious and that turns me off a bit too.  I know it sounds weird to claim that anyone’s vocals could sound more precious than Kip’s from The Pains, but Kurt’s and Christoph’s do.  And I’m not as drawn into In Her Gentle Jaws as I am the stuff on their Myspace page, possibly because this record was made in Dec. of 2007 and they’ve both lived and discovered what comes across better or, I don’t know what.

Don’t get me wrong, There are some wonderful moments on this album.  The instrumental portion of “Heavy Eyes” has a gentle, ’50s lover’s ballad quality to it. “Parasol Parachute” has a beautiful, melting melody.  And there are some monumental sound-scapes to be heard all over this thing.  Shifting drones of distorted guitars and thick synth patches are all very nice.  But I’m not sold on the vocals.  And while I will give these guys another chance based on what I hear here, I hope this is not their break-out recording.

Given what is up on their Myspace page at the moment, these guys have already grown far beyond what is on this record.  I think it’s a good sign when a band today shows promise on their first full-length recording rather than wondering what they could ever do next and thinking maybe it’s just so ramshackle good, that they just got lucky.  This isn’t one of those times.  Its well thought out.  And it’s pre-meditated,  a bit too much so.

I’ll leave you with this.  The exciting news is that The Depreciation Guild will be on tour This fall (Fall 09).  They will be touring with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Cymbals Eat Guitars.  What an incredible show that will be to see.  All three bands have hit heavy on my radar this year.  So check their Myspace page for dates and if for no other reason other than to see how The Depreciation Guild plans to build those lush, complicated sound-scapes in a live setting with just three people. Go to hear their new songs.  I have high hopes.

Links:

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