{"id":989,"date":"2014-06-05T11:28:53","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T15:28:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frederickplaylist.com\/?p=989"},"modified":"2014-06-05T11:28:53","modified_gmt":"2014-06-05T15:28:53","slug":"heavy-lights-mad-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2014\/06\/05\/heavy-lights-mad-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Heavy Lights: ‘Mad Minds’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HL-in-template-4-1\"<\/a>\u201cI do fear. There is a lightning bolt heading for here.\u201d<\/p>\n

So sings Heavy Lights leader Ryan Nicholson on \u201cStop Talkin\u2019\u201d and it\u2019s perfect. Perfect for the tiny touch of Caribbean textures that sit behind his words like a jovial beach party that doesn\u2019t even begin to end until the sun comes up. Perfect for how unforgivingly persistent it is as a hook, the line and melody taking residence in one\u2019s head without any intention of departure. Perfect for how contradictory the music and words prove to be, such a happy structure shading equally catastrophic scenery.<\/p>\n

There are plenty of moments like this on the band\u2019s debut LP, \u201cMad Minds.\u201d Antithetical in nature. Confident in presentation. Almost flawless in execution. And utterly irresistible in consumption. Rising from the ashes of The Old Liners, Heavy Lights aren\u2019t any more a rebirth than they are a reaffirmation of precisely how valuable and revelatory a restart can be. In the case of Nicholson \u2014 along with running mates Chris Morris, Brian Weakly and Derek Salazar \u2014 this record doesn\u2019t sound like a mere second chance at a first impression; instead, it announces Heavy Lights as one of the premiere rock outfits the entire state of Maryland probably has.<\/p>\n

From the first wave of \u201cExploder\u201d all the way to the final goodbye of \u201cBest Selling Show,\u201d it\u2019s difficult to find spots of dust on this Pledge-doused table and even harder to discover a splinter of wood even remotely detached from its original position. Take the oddly timed \u201cWurli\u201d as the most obvious example of detail. Eased in by Nicholson\u2019s delicately rueful voice and Morris\u2019 creatively concocted drums, the song explodes into a dirty flurry of rock-hard guitars and driving rhythms that only grow in weight with each subtle organ intonation. It\u2019s sounds like Muse before any time ran out.<\/p>\n

Actually, the comparison with the English trio is apt for another, more relevant reason: Brian Weakly\u2019s bass guitar. Much like the aforementioned pop-prog mainstays, Heavy Lights would hardly be half the band it is without the prowess of their low end leader. Check the radio-ready groove that drives \u201cFate, Come\u201d or the spot-on cleanliness of \u201cThe Ringing Bells.\u201d Not only is Weakly\u2019s playing throughout each of the 10 songs a treat from a musician\u2019s standpoint, but it\u2019s also one of the handful of subliminally imperative touches that wipes \u201cMad Minds\u201d dry.<\/p>\n

Another one of those understated elements? Nicholson\u2019s falsetto. With a voice that recalls a warmer, more humane Ben Gibbard, the singer\u2019s delivery impresses consistently, rising when it has to, yet sounding just as comfortable whenever it\u2019s asked to fade into the atmosphere. Plus, it\u2019s hard to imagine the group\u2019s slower songs working nearly as well without its volume.<\/p>\n

Case in point? Closer \u201cBest Selling Show,\u201d the moodiest of the bunch, provides a side of the band that\u2019s hard to believe exists when you consider the aggressive structures heard elsewhere. Nicholson\u2019s ability to convey a special kind of tenderness earns him his stripes as not only a frontman but a gifted crooner. Add a 6\/8 time signature and some sparse splashes of slide guitar, and what you have is a set of Heavy Lights that tellingly have no problem losing weight.<\/p>\n

Yet none of that means their intensity doesn\u2019t play well whenever those bulbs want to shine bright. For all the promise showcased throughout \u201cMad Minds,\u201d it\u2019s the title track that ultimately suggests itself as 2014\u2019s Song of the Year … so far. Sounding a lot like most people hoped Julian and Sean would sound (saber-tooth tiger or not) after John\u2019s kids announced their intention to follow in their father\u2019s footsteps, it\u2019s the marquee moment on a record filled with headliners.<\/p>\n

Anchored by an adoringly biting hook that features the band\u2019s leader asserting \u201cForget the who\/ What, where, and the when,\u201d the track\u2019s harmonies echo that of later-year Beatles, whenever the Beatles still wanted to be a pop band. Heavy praise for some heavy lights? Of course. But one listen to that second verse, complete with brilliantly bopping backing vocals, and you\u2019ll be hard-pressed to find an argument stating otherwise. It\u2019s the band\u2019s most realized moment.<\/p>\n

Which makes sense, because \u201cMad Minds,\u201d even with its limited flaws, is without question one of the most realized albums Frederick has seen this side of Silent Old Mtns.\u2019 \u201cVelvet Raccoon.\u201d Taken as a whole, the collection is wildly original and excitingly hungry, a set of indie-pop not afraid to use countless contagious guitar riffs and enough layered vocals to make Max Martin blush.<\/p>\n

Thus is should be said: No fear of lightning bolts needed. There\u2019s enough electricity in these 10 songs to generate the loudest crack of thunder this year might hear. All lit up.<\/p>\n

*** 3 1\/2 STARS OUT OF 4 ***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI do fear. There is a lightning bolt heading for here.\u201d So sings Heavy Lights leader Ryan Nicholson on \u201cStop Talkin\u2019\u201d and it\u2019s perfect. Perfect for the tiny touch of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}