School Of Seven Bells

On its debut, the Brooklyn trio creates a thoroughly modern outline of underground psychedelic pop as art-minded studio construction. It starts with the voices of the Deheza sisters, by turns swirling around one another (think Animal Collective and Meredith Monk) or locking into uplifting harmonies. There are symphonic tones layered out of fuzzy guitars, stadium-sized synths and effects only recording nerds will spot. And the rhythms -- ranging from glitch-hop beats to Krautrock grooves to tribal drums -- peek in from around the globe. All are present to serve the songs, which linger long after the musical haze has passed.

This New York trio of ex-Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis and twins Alejandra and
Claudia Deheza is the sum of hip contradictions: om-drone modernism coated with the
Dehezas' antique vocal blur of Gentle Giant's prog-choir counterpoint and the harmonies of
a medieval Shangri-Las. The effect is warm goth — New Order with more eros. "Chain" veers
close to electro-candy Madonna, but the Neu-like zoom and robot-nun chanting... More >