Tristeza - Dream Signals in Full Circles
(Tiger Style)
Dream Signals in Full Circles is the follow up to Tristeza's popular first album, Spine and Sensory.
With the growth shown on this album, the band continues their move further and further away from the San Diego hardcore scene from which they were born.
Upon first listen, the first two songs don't really have any surprises in them, as
they sound very much like the sort of songs that were on their first album and 7"s.
But the third track "City of the Future" is mostly warm keyboard tones and melodies,
sounding like a song from The Album Leaf's album (the "not a side project" side
project of Jimmy LaValle, one of Tristeza's guitarists). This song shows
the subtle difference between the new album and previous releases, which makes it easier to discern the
band's growth from the more standard Tristeza songs.
The songs are still driven by the two
guitars playing similar melodies, but on this album the guitar parts have grown out
of the rhythmic tendency they had on previous releases. Instead of plodding along
through a melody, the guitars simply float. They're given more lift from the subtle ambience
being laid underneath by both guitar and keyboard, aiding the progression of the
sound to a lush wall instead of a bright succession of notes.
The last song, "Opiate Slopes," stands out with the addition of a subtle violin part. Towards
the end, one of the guitars turns on a lot more delay than Tristeza has ever used before
and plays a simple few note melody. That guitar eventually drops out leaving the
bass, drums, and very subtle rhythm guitar to play through the progression a couple
more times through to the end of the song.
I have really enjoyed everything Tristeza has released (well,
not the remixes), but this album has more focus and succeeds at getting their point
across in the best possible way. The thick analog keyboard sound, the smoothed out
guitar lines, and the overall display of restraint mark the differences between this
and their past releases. It sounds quite a bit like a mixture of the first Tristeza album
and The Album Leaf. Tristeza has taken another step away from The Crimson Curse and
towards Labradford.
|
