FAVORITE ALBUM #3

#3 TO WHERE YOU ARE / THE HIGH VIOLETS [taste] [buy]

key tracks: sun baby / chinese letter / invitation / cool green / x-tasy / love is blinding

too many folks have tried and failed to revive the shoegaze movement, and while i don't think for one second high violets are trying to revive shoegazing, 'to where you are' certainly takes the best of what shoegazing had to offer without ever sacrificing melody and vocal clarity in favor of atmosphere. kaitlyn ni donovan is a great vocalist, by the way. she's liz frazier without the effects, harriet wheeler turned down an octave. the band, too, are great. they seemed to have mastered the pop/rock song the same way andy chase and adam schlesinger from ivy have. they are supreme craftsmen and woman.

the album starts off with a couple of shoegazy songs straight out of 1992. 'sun baby' and 'love is blinding' smack of lush more than anyone else, but are on the whole much stronger songs than lush ever created (and i love lush). 'chinese letter' might be my favorite song on the album. it's a glorious song that might not have been out of place on the cocteau twins 'heaven or las vegas.' 'invitation' sounds like something off the sundays 'static and silence [and is probably my 2nd favorite]. then they throw you a curveball in 'cool green,' a bundle of dancy energy complete with sleighbells at the halfway point; while it doesn't necessarily 'fit' in with the rest of the album, is still such a joy to listen to that you're so glad it's there.

i'm still mortified that only twelve people showed up to see them when they came through salt lake city a while back. the only cool part about it was that i got to talk to the band afterwards. they are, to a person, champs. so kind, so friendly. they love what they do and seem a bit frustrated they don't have a bigger audience. frankly, i'm frustrated, too, 'cos this is one helluva band.