DESA, an indie alternative five-piece from Oakland, California, left me feeling pretty lukewarm today. Members Ryan, Adam, Barry, Aaron, and Steve play their instruments well, but their generic alt-rock sound failed to blow me away. After three songs, I was definitely ready to call it quits.
"Delilah" was just monotonous. The guitars were trying to do too much during the verses. They could have impressed me had they not lost their way beneath the vocals. The chorus sounded whiny with the percussion and guitar feeling very heavy. Every now and then the guitars grabbed the spotlight with an interesting picking pattern, but overall I felt like I had listened to the anthem for every mediocre alt-rock band I have seen live. "Delilah" could have been much cleaner.
"We Must Be Brave" only had somber lyrics and hushed acoustic guitar to offer me. The vocals sounded strained, which might have been purposeful, but I was not a fan. The instrumental aspect of the song felt like an open mic coffee house experiment. I think I might have heard a muted trumpet at one point, which perked up my ears, but the excitement faded quickly when the vocals came in and did not seem to connect with the tone of what the guitar was playing. "We Must Be Brave" just seemed messy and poorly planned to me.
"Alarm Clock Screams" was horrendous. The idea of letting a guitar riff and heavy percussion override vocals is just perplexing to me. I feel like a good song should show how well the musicians can blend their talent with each other. Apparently DESA does not share the same beliefs on showcasing talent as me. The fast-paced, sweaty guitar riffs were distorted. The percussion sounded like they were competing with the guitar. The vocals sounded defeated. I should have taken the title of the song more literally I suppose, with how unpleasant it turned out to be.
I personally would not recommend DESA under any circumstances.
You be the judge. Give DESA a chance here.
Thank you for reading. Shuffle on.
Photo credit: http://www.purevolume.com/desa/photos/5813
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