aaamusic | On 23, Oct 2011

Letting Up Despite Great Faults are a three-piece indie-electro band from LA whose name is inspired by a Blonde Redhead track. This sounds good enough already. Their new EP is called Paper Crush and it’s fucking brilliant. This should be good enough for all.

Opener Repeating Hearts sets the tone for the record, which is what an opener’s supposed to do,  really. Like a less ecstasy-crazed Passion Pit they combine euphoria and morbose affection to amazingly uplifting effect. As is always the case with electronica, a polished beat will mean so much more if it delivers that extra amount of emotion. Letting Up Despite Great Faults know this, and master it to a tee. To think that this song’s hectic fluorescence is only achieved through machinery, with human input reduced to merely whispering vocals, is really impressive. Second track Sophia In Gold mixes adoration and pressure –  “Does it mean we have to be bigger than the past?” is the anxious refrain, topped by an electric drum that sounds like it’s splashing mud out of those pads. Euphoria remains, though it’s layered with expectation.

Teenage Tide is the great standout moment. It sounds like I Wanna Be Adored played by a New York bunch of electro kids from the depths of a sidewalk pit circa 2009. ”Are you counting on me, can I count on you ‘til the end?” really says it all as a chorus– they want adolescence to matter, these guys. There are scores of bands who have tried this before (Naked and Famous – seriously?!) but have failed miserably.  LUDGF truly, for once, deliver the sick romance of that age with just the amount of self-deprecation and bliss it demands. Next is I Feel You Happen, which is best described, amazingly enough, as a a bass-driven blitzkrieg of a song. So powerful you’re more than happy to have it explode on your face at regular intervals.

Aurora and bonus track Helium take us home with grace. A largely instrumental moment with tip-toeing guitars the former; a relaxed yet chaotic charmer the latter. They see us off leaving us longing. Longing for the passion-driven days of yore, sure, but mostly longing for more.

 

Chiara Amoroso