Released May 28, 2013 via Equal Vision Records
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o say I used to hate EISLEY would be exaggerating. But not by that much.
I think I had good reasons for sneering at the Texas-bred sibling pop act. “Telescope Eyes,” their breakout single from 2005, sounded like Sixpence None The Richer. At least one member of Eisley — Sherri DuPree Bemis — has been known to date dudes from bands like Good Charlotte and Say Anything, which means she is attracted to men who are bad at music. Eisley even started one of the douchiest Kickstarters in memory, which beseeched fans to help them fund the tour — with the aforementioned Say Anything — that drops into the Paradise on Sunday. It takes a band with major balls to expect anyone who ponies up $50 for a collection of digital demos, or some such trinket, to feel awesome about buying a ticket to a show they’ve already supported financially. Which might help explain why Eisley’s Kickstarter failed to seal its $100,000 deal.
Nonetheless, “Save My Soul,” off last month’s new long-player Currents, swiftly reserved itself serious contention for a spot on my personal “Best Tracks of 2013” list. Well played, Eisley. Well played, you bastards.
Rarely can a song justify name checking Neutral Milk Hotel, (“I’ll start singing ‘Two-Headed Boy’ as you fall asleep,” goes the end of the second verse) but the reference feels apt on this melancholic dream of faded memories and romantic hopefulness serving as Currents‘ daunting centerpiece.
Similar sentiments emerge on the lightly ominous, escalating title track, while the darker side of bygone amorousity gets due consideration on the cloudy, elegantly-restrained “Blue Fish.” Later on, “Real World” lacks the mystic tones and dynamic ebb and flow present elsewhere on the album, but I defy listeners to hear the chorus — “I won’t stand a chance in the real world/If you’re not by my side, I won’t survivaaahhhhiiieeeve” — without sighing something like “Awww.”
Currents begins gliding toward its conclusion when a string arrangement creeps over a downtrodden acoustic guitar, and rises against soaring vocal stridence, just as the drums kick in on “The Night Comes.” By the end of the flowery, piquant last song, “Shelter,” I’ve learned that sometimes bands can surprise us if we give them a second chance.
EISLEY + SAY ANYTHING + I THE MIGHTY | Sunday, June 23 at Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave., Boston | 8pm, all-ages, SOLD OUT