The Pacific Northwest of United States is a hot bed for melodic, rhythmic indie rock. The likes of Death Cab for Cutie and Hot Hot Heat have put a nice twist on the music in this region. When you think of the demographics of the country you can understand why some sounds are allowed to nurture without mainstream crud being shoved down their throat.
Seattle, Washington’s, The Pale Pacific fit nicely within this sound and their second release of 2005, Urgency finds this quartet pushing its boundary. It’s wrong to say they are a mixture of Death Cab and Sunny Day Real Estate, but for a first time listener you’d be forgiven; it’s much poppier than Death Cab and not as “emo” as Sunny Day.
I found myself repeatedly listening to the second track of Urgency, Sucker Punch. It’s one of those songs that slowly progresses, the tempo builds up and when it ends you feel as if you were robbed, you didn’t get enough so you hit back on the player for another turn. The album is so full of little gems that it requires many listens. We could be hearing big things from this band in 2006 as it’s just one of those records!
(BH)