Search - Heavenly States :: Heavenly States

The Heavenly States

09/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"THE HEAVENLY STATES: THE HEAVENLY STATES: Future Farmer Recordings: Pop/Rock Listening to this great album, I'm reminded just how wrong the young and highly-hyped band The Thrills have got it.Ted Nesseth (vocals, guitar), Jeremy Gagon (drums) and Geneveive Gagon (violin, keyboards) were originally the core members of a band called Fluke Starbucker who produced two albums (PAPER THIN and HOOKER AT SEA) in the mid to late 90s. The new band's eponymous debut album cleverly combines heavy rock with the sort of adult pop that Brian Wilson would have been proud of. And it works, without compromise, while creating and sustaining an enormously strong emotional pull. It's the trick that The Thrills have not been able to manage, but this band seem to be able to do with confidence and natural ease. In fact, it's a bit of a revelation.Featuring Matt Dickey (Uberhund) on bass the album opens with American Borders. Diving guitar riffs and pounding drums are the centrepiece of a song that drives along, eventually to meet up with some deft vocal harmonies. It's the sort of song that Metallica or Foo Fighters could have recorded. Powerful, splendid. The Story Of signals a turn towards more conventional mid-paced rock but roller-coaster vocals and harmonies throughout make it just a bit special. It's a fun song that has my toes tapping uncontrollably. My Friends takes off where the Pet Sounds ended and moves me like a JCB. The melody is stunning while Nesseth gives a vocal performance to treasure. The harmonies are amazing and I have to declare this to be one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in 2003. While the album displays a diversity of pace and mood, every song weaves seamlessly into the next. Beyond The Great Beyond is an example of a song that is feisty rock one minute and pop classic the next, and then back again, like a wave rushing angry to shore and then gently rolling back over glistening, white sand. Quite extraordinary. Another highlight is the epic Cumulous To Nebulous with its simple keyboard backdrop and slowly building momentum, complete with a spell of absolute silence, before heart-stopping vocals take over. Keyboards, drums and guitars then join in the fray and march on relentlessly towards the end of the song. Amazing. The final song I'll mention is Empire, a dazzling, gently rolling pop song helped along by by Geneveive Gagon's mournful, Celt-tinged violin and another expressive Nesseth vocal. Breathtaking.The Heavenly States has produced a very special album that I find compelling, expressive and very moving. It's an album that oozes confidence, authority, experience and supreme musicality. Instrumentally, it's a revelation; vocally, it's stunning; and the songwriting comes close to perfection. It's certainly one of the best albums of 2003 so far, and essential."