All Around Sound Is Turning Seven! - Day 4: The Deloreans

As mentioned earlier in the week, an unintended theme for this year's blog birthday contributors is that they're all artists we've covered while All Around Sound was pretty much in its infancy (Genders wasn't quite but they previous project Youth however was). Today's contributor, Louisville rockers The Deloreans, are one of the first bands of the batch that we covered and our love affair began with them after being played a track of there's by Sam of now defunct blog MiddleClassWhiteNoise back when turntable.fm was still a thing. It was a love whose flame was fanned by fellow Louisville native and longtime fan Zach of We Listen For You. He assured me The Deloreans were a band that had to be seen to be truly enjoyed and by convincing them to come to New York for CMJ quickly proved himself incredibly right.

Since our initial meeting years ago on the streets of Manhattan while Zach sang their many praises, we've managed to stay in touch and even frequently discuss classical music with multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Jeremy Perry and guitarist Loren Pilcher. Though asking them to contribute in All Around Sound's birthday was pretty much a given, it was also a matter of timing and thankfully the stars aligned and they could participate. Jeremy Perry crafted a mix and gives us the run down:

One of my very favorite pieces of music from 2016. Erik Blood's string arrangement and calculated production at first seem to be diametrically opposed to the raw lyrics and tossed off vocals by the brilliant OC Notes. But this is one of the best matches of seemingly-opposites that you'll find. The respectful honesty of OC's words is extremely effective from a literal standpoint, while the rest of the track underscores the emotional complexity of the sentiment.

This track is a few years old yet I keep coming back to it. Matt Meyers really found something with this track in terms of melodic/harmonic and lyrical timing. Lyrically, I'll think of a different interpretation every time I hear it - but every interpretation is something. With only a guitar and vocals on this track, Meyers doesn't have production to hide behind - the great thing is that he didn't need it.

Probably one of my favorite songs that has come out in the last few years. Great lyrics and timing all around. Plus,it's one of those songs that seems like not many people 'get' it so it seems even more special to me. 

If you haven't heard of this artist yet you certainly will. He was just nominated for a Grammy and is getting a lot of nods from the upper echelons. There are plenty of hits and perfectly-spun pop tracks on his debut album but this shorter track is my favorite.

I thought I had heard enough songs where it seemed the rather lame desire to recreate the vibe of Dylan's "Lay, Lady, Lay" were the raison d'être. Even if it was the case I really like this track from this band who I don't know much at all about.

I don't know a lot about this group other than I think they are from Lexington, KY and that I heard they aren't playing anymore. But that's a shame. This track is much more effective at reaching towards subversive anti-pop than most attempts. Also it seems that the type of band that makes this kind of music doesn't typically end up with a vocalist this good.

These guys are from Chicago. This track is older for them but it's a great one and I come back to it quite a bit. Listen to how they wait until almost the end of the song to hit the top of the track's dynamic range. Not a level of patience you'll find much. It makes me drive faster for some reason.

Someone wrote my band Deloreans an email saying our singer (me) sounded like the singer for The Associates. I had never heard of them and curiously looked them up. This is the first track (a Bowie cover) I listened to. I immediately loved it. But only in my dreams can I sing as great as this guy - I wish. This is also a case where this band truly made their own version of the song. There is nothing similar. He creates his melodic phrases, the arrangement is quite sparse and modest, the guitar solo, or rather moment is one of the most interesting things I've heard for a guitar solo.

Like most people I listened to a lot off David Bowie this past year. This track is the one I probably played the most. He recorded this in Philadelphia and hired out some local vocalists to sing the backing parts.

Thanks to Jeremy and The Deloreans for contributing to this year's blog birthday celebration. If you haven't listened to The Deloreans brilliant second album "American Craze" I highly recommend you do while the rest of us wait for the follow up that's sure to be just as special. If you have: listen to it again. It's a masterpiece worth revisiting over and over.

Premiere - Watch: The Deloreans - "As Long As It's You"

Considering their most recent album "American Craze" was released way back at the very start of 2011, it's certainly a welcome surprise to hear from Louisville rock pop stalwarts The Deloreans. The fivesome are essentially one of Louisville's best kept secret and the rare moment they can be convinced to leave all that hometown glory behind so I can see them is always a plus.

After releasing standalone single "As Long As It's You" back in 2014, The Deloreans have returned to offer up another tantalizing release to help bide the time between albums and already given the honor of writing about the single before for a premiere, I feel doubly so that the band sought me out once again this time for the music video directed by Neil James.

James' video takes inspiration directly from Jeremy Perry's lyrics shifting the portrait of intense, passionate love to a dance piece. Much like the The Deloreans' track from which he was inspired, James' pairs the beauty of composition - in this case a lovely night scene lit with dozens of little lights with a slow-burning fury in dancers Mimi Hutchinson and Michael Nguyen as they play out a love story from its euphoric highs to its fiery lows. With only their costumes and the scene behind them not obscured in completely darkness - the narrative relies less on the expected ways to depict conflict: words, facial expressions and instead places the importance fully on the  visual components: the increase of dizzying camera shots, rapidly shifting angles, and of course the dance itself which proceeds from a playful song and dance, a chase, a romantic two-step, to violent leaps.



In case you missed it, you can listen to/order The Deloreans' "As Long As It's You" 7" now in its 2nd pressing here.

The Deloreans - American Craze (2011)

I was introduced to The Deloreans by Sam at MiddleClassWhiteNoise when he played "Dear" for me and 3 other eager listeners in a listening room/chat. I was immediately struck by it's epic grandeur and dreamy American sound that reminded me a bit of Aaron Copland and so the search for the album began - made easier by a link being provided.

Album opener "Gatsby" with its swells and vocal bravado establishes the album as one of substance and sets the semi-thematic ode to times gone by. For all the nuanced ideas on American Craze, "Leviathan" is markedly different - a grandstanding guitar showpiece with about two short verses.

American Craze does an amazing job of channeling bygone era music in a way that's no mere replication. The arrangements are positively out of this world, probably due to bandleader Jeremy Perry's experience studying classical music and offers a smattering of various periods in American music (like surf pop in "Girl From the Country"). A bigger feat is how the band is able to navigate from the subtlety of "Gatsby" to the over-the-top ball-to-the-wall nature of "Leviathan", "Landslide", and "Non", back to something way more restrained (at least initially) for "Dear". I'm still surprised by this fact, actually. It's a formula that shouldn't work and yet The Deloreans managed to do to remarkable effect.

You can listen to the album on their BandCamp: