This is a review of Dead Mellotron’s newest (and possibly last) EP, (Is It) (2012), and the fourth review (and first bonus review) here on Track-By-Track.
I first heard Dead Mellotron when I was searching for shoegaze and dream pop bands on Bandcamp. I’ve found quite a few great bands that way, which is likely a main reason why the huge labels are scared of the digital era. I was still really forming my ideas about what shoegaze and dream pop are when I found Dead Mellotron’s 2009 release, Ghost Light Constellation. This EP just about confuses the two sub-genres further, but in a good way.
(is it) is a great gapless EP, after which you won’t know what hit you. Even though there are just four tracks, its emotionally powerful effect is enough to merit loads more poetry than I could write into this review. I’ll save it for the next Eliot, or Whitman, or a different blog of my own (egotism intended).
In the meantime, here’s my TBT:
The EP starts with “Fade In/Out”. The first thing I wrote about this track was: It sounds like the sun, if it could speak in music. This is dream-pop heaven, with warbling synth pads, dreamy vocals, and hard yet loving drums. Dead Mellotron has done it again. The harmonies bring the song up, but the synths drive you straight above the clouds. Even though there have been some great tracks from Dead Mellotron before, this stands out as an amazing musical achievement for Dead Mellotron, like R.E.M.’s “The Great Beyond”, but solidly in the dream-pop sub-genre.
“Weird Dreams” is the second track, which has some great shoegaze guitars, within the scope and breadth of its total dream-pop. It’s like there’s a string section, without the strings, with the way the guitars and synths compliment each other. The lyrics are sparse, and almost lo-fi-style. The vocals sound pitch-corrected, but I couldn’t care less with the atmosphere this track brings. The deep bass drives it home, and the drums, though obviously samples, remind of My Bloody Valentine.
The third track, “Vacation”, is a vacation from lyrics and vocals. It’s heavily compressed and modulated to the extreme, yet without the stonewalling that most songs and remasters have now. It’s like a coda by Kevin Shields himself, with synths and guitars, even though I don’t know whether there are any synths, or if this is a track in which there really was a labyrinth of pedals near the guitarist's shoes. It leads gently into the last track.
“Vacation II” is a continuation of the previous track, but by no means instrumental. The vocals return, as feint whispers of a mood, without form to really give shape to recognizable words. Great choral-style samples, and just enough echo, mixed with a strong drumbeat and ocean of guitar; and the deep bass is more noticeable when they cut out.
Overall, it's like a great tape of music was left out in the sun, and was warped, and that somehow made it better. It’s instantly replayable, and each listen brings some new part of it to light. This whole EP solidifies Dead Mellotron’s place in the shoegaze/dream pop crossover that few artists exemplify as well. Sadly, this might be the last we hear from Dead Mellotron (they've announced through Facebook that their last gig is in July), so this might be a kind of Abbey Road. You can download this EP for pay-what-you-want, and more from Dead Mellotron, at http://deadmellotron.bandcamp.com. Like a room filled with sunlight and warmth, outside a snowy mountain (like the one on the cover), it’s a secretive and warm EP, with qualities that defy explanation. This is why I love dream pop.
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