Written
by William Elgin, posted by blog admin
It’s
rare when a modern indie band impresses me and let it be none right off the bat
that I usually head for the hills whenever someone even introduces a group or
artist as “emo” to me. So much to my
surprise Blue Apollo have large shades of both emo and post-90s indie rock on
their first release, the Light-Footed
Hours EP. I’ll never fault honest to
goodness quality songwriting and good melodies no matter what type of music I’m
dealing with and there are plenty of them to go around on this slick little package.
This
Dallas, Texas three-piece benefit from balancing the right amount of tuneful
rocking to the right amount of indie ballad melancholy on this release,
striking a balance that works and sets up instrumentally and vocally sound
verses into infectious, sonorous chorus hooks that definitely showcase a band
that’s ready-made for FM radio airplay…
I can see fans of Bright Eyes, Jimmy Eat World and Saves the Day coming
through the mix at times but despite proudly waving the banner of their
influences, Blue Apollo muster up their own original take on the genre
throughout Light-Footed Hours’ 6-song
run.
“Walls”
lays into a rousing beat full of big bubbly tom drum thunder that pounds into
place the rippling melodic guitar riffs and minor-key indie leads, deeply
plunging bass lines and the breathy beautiful vocals of Luke Nassar’s
expressive range. The tempos drift from
crackling and precision mid-pacing to higher-octane pop punk bounce before
sinking into some ebbing soul completed by baroque keyboards and bluesy
instrumental passages. It’s a superb
opener that raises the bar high for the remainder of Blue Apollo’s work on the
EP. Not only does the band meet the bar
set but I daresay that they elevate it on several of the
forthcoming tracks.
The
upbeat good vibrations and positive, surf-y guitar jangle of “Feeling Alright”
feels like a lost 60s/70s track with a modern indie update. I’m hearing some of James Blunt’s soul
inspirations here with the dynamic and dazzling rise n’ fall of Luke’s golden
vocal chords against a tensely uplifting mid-tempo full of hard-edged snare
swerves, walking bass lines and even a fiery, totally wound-up guitar solo
imbedded deep within the tune’s sizzling second half. It’s easily one of Light-Footed Hours most poignantly performed, arranged and produced
numbers. Elsewhere, “Therapy” is a trip
down summery pop punk and school’s out fun ala The Ataris, the dual balladry of
“Avalanche” and “Meant to be” dial down the mood into one of total calm with
heavy use of piano and acoustic guitar, respectively whereas closer “Circles”
walks a tightrope fine line between the twinkling keyboards and pianos of the
ballad tracks while beefing up the pop punk and emo aesthetics with a lot of
cranking energy. Light-Footed Hours is nothing short of a smashing success. There’s a good mix of diverse tunes on hand
that render this EP an engaging listen with plenty of replay value. For anyone into this particular sound, you
absolutely must pick up a copy of Blue Apollo’s stellar debut release.
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