Dead Gaze
Brain Holiday
FatCat Records Ltd

Dead Gaze is R. Cole Furlow (or, Dead Gaze is Furlow's band/project), and last April we checked out his/theirs compilation album Dead Gaze which I described as being '..the sound of sugar-coated barbed wire'. Here's some more of Furlow's slightly fuzzed and distorted indie rock. I guess we could expect more of the same with Brain Holiday.

Yes, and no. With Brain Holiday Furlow's music and sound has been taken many a level upwards on the fidelity scale. Which means, well... there is an all over more 'pro' expression throughout the album, but most of the charm has gone, I'm afraid. And; along with the charm, some of the most interesting and playful moments must have disappeared as well. Too bad, since Dead Gaze still do have some catchy songs in-between. Musically they operate the fuzz-pop/grunge pop scale not far from where Weezer (just check out the opener "Yuppies Are Flowers") and Built To Spill ("Rowdy Jungle") dribble their ball. The calmer "Stay, Don't Say" make me think of Elliott Smith. One of the better songs (maybe the best track) here is "You'll Carry On Real Nice" (which also was included on Dead Gaze). "A Different Way" is also a cool track, being sort of a slo-mo garage-rock piece. "Runnin' on the Moon" is just annoying and boring. Period. Furlow loves diving backwards into the indie/alternative/college rock sea of the 1990s, it seems. Nothing wrong with that. What is bad is that he forgot to bring his most distinctive or characteristic songs with him. I'm sure he's got some more in him.

Copyright © 2013 Håvard Oppøyen