It's remarkable how much something as simple as a change of format can radically alter a listener's perception of the music they're hearing. A good example of such a phenomenon can be found in listening to the vinyl release of July Talk's self-titled album which comes out as a Canadian import on January 8, 2013; while readers probably already know that I was already taken enough with this album to see that it shared my call for Record Of The Year with Grey Kingdom, I was shocked to learn that July Talk was actually capable of seeming to be possessed of greater sonic scope and style when placed on a different medium. There is a greater thematic movement in the album when it's placed on two sides of vinyl too; there is a more noticeable progression through it and the difference between light and dark is more plainly apparent when one has to flip the record over to another side.
Saying something as simple as “There's a greater difference between light and dark on this album expressed by the different sides of this LP” doesn't exactly afford the experience the credit it deserves. True, the colors expressed and the difference between light and darkness are key aspects to this record which help to move it along, but perhaps most important is the emotional temperature and how it changes as the record progresses; the difference is like watching a fire burn; first it burns hot and bright and cooks with wild abandon but, as time rolls on, the flames die down and leave the embers which are still hot enough to burn, but it seethes and is potentially even more dangerous because it's not throwing as much light.
The A-side of July Talk burns bright right from the top as “The Garden” smolders first with a bit of gravel-voiced and snide lead-up from Peter Dreimanis (the make voice in the band) before it explodes to life with the help of bassist Josh Warburton and drummer Danny Miles. With that assistance along with the gasoline supplied by Dreimanis' blues-rocky guitar, July Talk builds in intensity quickly and becomes a towering inferno before long, calmed only when the beautiful, sweet and gentle vocal foil supplied by co-singer Leah Fay sashays into the mix and changes the shape of the sound completely for the song's second verse. There, the dominant image implied by “The Garden” shifts to one of a perfect femme fatale framed by fire on all sides – but the flames don't get too close to Fay for fear of being extinguished by Fay's too perfectly cool, dew-eyed persona. That dichotomy of style and form set up by Dreimanis and Fay never ceases to bait and beguile listeners.
The fire that started in “The Garden” never dims on this first side of July Talk, but it certainly changes color as songs like “Guns + Ammunition” (with its hooting refrain which sounds like it wants to taunt The Rolling Stones' anti-sympathetic “devil”), “Paper Girl” (where the guitars build with a petulant, manic intensity) and “Someone” (where Dreimanis plays a torment of changing forms) each take a turn assaulting and charming listeners – often both in the same song – but never quite getting close enough for listeners to totally inhabit the music. Rather, they seek to dazzle listeners and hold them enamored as well; not burn them or potentially alienate them. That approach is definitely an effective one – listeners' attention is never able to wane away because they want to know how close they can get – and maybe even try to cheat getting burned by the heat and the passion exuded by the band.
After such a marvelous exposition of hot-blooded and passionate performance, listeners will be ready and willing to try and absorb another round of the same; which is why they'll be shocked to find a much different voice and emotional center playing out on July Talk's flipside. As the album's B-side opens with “Let Her Know” listeners find Leah Fay presenting herself as the lover spurned rather than the doe-eyed vixen as the words “Don't let her know/ that your feelings aren't for fun/ Don't let her know/ True feelings aren't for everyone” escape her mouth. It's a perfectly stunned and wounded image and, at first, listeners will guess that what they music be hearing is a dramatic departure from July Talk's hot-blooded frenzy of an A-side and they're right – but it's not exactly a different subject – it's not physical love, “Let Her Know” is about emotional love tempered with loss. It's where the band shifts gears completely and turns to face a whole other idea of songwriting, and that suddenly expanded emotional view is very exciting to hear; it showcases an all-new depth to the band's persona and personality.
The band continues to show listeners what they're capable of as they dive even deeper on July Talk's second side. Thematically, the band balances between love found and the fear of it escaping in “Having You Around” (check out lyrics like “You're running in the rain/ your heart doused in flame/ Your song, come along/ Spread yourself thin”) but the added bonus in that song is that it doesn't feel contrived or contrary to July Talk's A-side; it's complimentary, but listeners may not necessarily see the contrast listening to the same music on a CD. That sort of epiphany gets repeated as the band borrows a classic surf rock vamp in “Don't Call Home” and finds a painful brand of isolation which endures through and into the reverb-saturated, majestic chills of “I've Rationed Well,” which closes out the side. It turns out to be beautiful, and revelatory given that the same contrast between light and dark just wasn't anywhere near as apparent on the CD as it is on the LP.
Now, with such a discovery made, some readers are likely assuming that my implication is going to be one medium is better than the other, but that's not true. My heart was won by July Talk with the CD version of this album, but the experience of the music is enriched by the vinyl. Here, listeners will find even more dimensions to the band's sound and the dramatic structure of the songs which could have easily been missed on the CD (due in part to a slightly different production/mastering style), but are plainly apparent on the vinyl release. The vinyl feels like a completely different sort of experience from the CD; not better or worse, just different – and it promises to inform listeners with a completely different angle to the same music. That's a pretty remarkable thing.
Artist:
www.julytalk.com
www.whitegirlrecords.com/july-talk/
www.facebook.com/julytalk
www.twitter.com/julytalk
Further Reading:
Ground Control Magazine – "Classic From The Start – July Talk Arrives" – [Feature Article]
Ground Control Magazine – July Talk – s/t – [CD Review]
Ground Control Magazine – "Ground Control's 2012 Critics' Poll" – [Feature Article]
Album:
The 12'' LP version of July Talk's self-titled debut album will be released as a Canadian import on January 8, 2013 by White Girl Records/EMI Music Canada. Pre-Order it here on Amazon .
