Delusions

Let me just point out the obvious, Love Crushed Velvet has a very retro sound, think The Cars, The Police/Sting, etc. The first couple of rounds with the bands Delusions EP feeling a bit conflicted. Retro music is huge, has been since the arrival of bands like The Killers and Wolfmother, but late 70’s, to the entirety of the 80’s style pop radio rock? I guess it’s not unheard of.

 

Digging around I came across some info about the band, most of whom seem to come from projects like Joan Jett, Blondie, and Billy Idol, with Producer/Engineer Dave Bascombe (Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, The Human League, Erasure) directing the bands sound. It all kind of makes sense, but after giving the EP a few more spins and shaking my impulses to go direct to the obvious, I ended up enjoying it for what it was. 

 

What’s great about the EP is obviously the mix. Piano’s play subtly, sometimes forefront on the album, giving the overall sound a boost of aberrate charm from its pop radio rock sound. Synthetic sounds, though making some tracks seem throwback, also offer up a bit of an edge to the bands sound. Drums are loud, and vocals, for the most part are nostalgic cool. Think The Escape Club and or Love and Rockets. Spotlight sounded a bit staggered to me, but acceptable. 

 

Lyrically the EP balances a good dark and light theme. Revolution, the bands first single, is your usual feel good tune about fighting on when times get tough in order to make your dreams a reality. It’s a good single for radio. Then you have the EP's second track, Bye Bye Baby which is a song about parting ways (on an amicable note).  Spotlight is another track about relationships gone awry between two people who feel like their lives have come under great scrutiny and are stalled. Interesting concept if you think about the situation and view this song as a conversation on the subject between two people. The remainder of the album keeps up on lyrics that give you things to think on. 

 

While it was easy for me to adapt to the bands sound, having seen the 70’s out and lived through the 80’s, I think the EP will probably grab older audiences’ attention, but might have some issues grabbing the younger crowds attention. Regardless, it’s a pretty well produced EP that I can throw on and just enjoy. Will it stand the test of time? That’s questionable. Not really enough substance that pushes for longevity, but it will certainly do in the here and now. Enjoy.