If Edgar Allen Poe is one of your favorite authors or you happen to enjoy Vincent Price films (as I do), you’re going to love this delectable little release by The Danbury Lie which is appropriately titled “?” (Yes, at the risk of breaking into an Abbott and Costello routine, I’m telling you the title of the album is… “?”). The name of the project is actually quite fitting being that it’s very difficult to describe. Without trying to become like an author from “The Dial” (an American transcendentalism periodical that Edgar Allen loved to mock), I’ll do my best to lead readers on a jaunt through this curious “question” the D-Lie has released upon us.
From the opening track, the listener is certain that something wicked this way comes; however, one might sense it’s a nonchalant nightmare – sort of a matter of fact Halloween. Try to imagine somber Salem nights and a descent into a melancholy maelstrom of monotones. For a lack of better reference, I’m going to dub this Danbury project as meditatively macabre experimental folk. Although the songs are mostly brief, they do have certain epic moments, like the blunt, juicy guitar riffs of “Last Day” which embark almost into full-fledge alternative rock only to spiral back down at the end into the trance feel, pervasive throughout most of the album. This, along with “Elm Street,” are probably my two favorite tracks, with “Last” exemplifying TDL’s propensity towards random, yet welcome movements – while the latter song (which seemingly has nothing to do with a certain “Freddy” saga) showcases more of their arrangement experimentalism – being rife with naked, indie-style guitar, upright piano, children’s toys, and cryptic voices. Even with all that, the tune remains surprisingly subtle. Although other “?” moments are not so subtle, the heavier elements – with some blistering guitar and ascending minor key chord progressions – seem to almost come and go unintentionally.
Check out The Danbury Lie’s enjoyable “?” for yourself and allow your heart to tell the tale of its own answers at:
http://thedanburylie.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheDanburyLie
-review by Francis Itch of Indie band Guru and Bad Itch Productions