Devolves
Life Science
(First released under the name Devolver)
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IMPACT Press
• Abandon all ye preconceptions about what music is before listening. Devolver is an incredibly innovative Bay-Area duo, defying convention with their haunting vocals which wail oddly in the ever-restructuring peaks and valleys of the minimalist music. It is not-so-obvious genius, I thinks the rational mind says that this oft-discordant album shouldn't work, but it does. It feels. It's right. It's my job to tell you why, but I can't it's truly spellbinding. (DP)
• Abandon all ye preconceptions about what music is before listening. Devolver is an incredibly innovative Bay-Area duo, defying convention with their haunting vocals which wail oddly in the ever-restructuring peaks and valleys of the minimalist music. It is not-so-obvious genius, I thinks the rational mind says that this oft-discordant album shouldn't work, but it does. It feels. It's right. It's my job to tell you why, but I can't it's truly spellbinding. (DP)
West Coast Performer
• You can't have a lukewarm, in-between opinion of Devolver - you either love 'em or you just don't. If you crave eclectic, noisy rock with an emphasis on effects, pick up Life Science. Because each song is unpredictably frenetic and complicated, it's the sort of album you would put on when you're about to create a modern art masterpiece (think wide, spastic brushstrokes), but it's also fitting to put on as background music when you're rocking yourself back and forth on one of your "bad days".
While their music is truly unique, on first listen it's the similarities you'll notice between the songs - all have the same slow-ish rock tempo, with drawn out minimalist vocals over off-kilter musical arrangements. Many of the tracks follow a similar structure and seems to loop one into the next, leading you to think to yourself, "Hmph. Devolver sounds a little like a slightly irked, non-hippie jam band" - and you would be right.
But as you listen again to Devolver, you may become increasingly impressed with the musical intricacies of each song. Devolver dares to deviate from the predictable formula of radio-friendly rock. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely makes their music less accessible to fans of melody. Their sound is strongly guitar-driven: the songs lean heavily on complicated and noisy instrumental breaks and near-psychedelic riffs, relying less on lyrical delivery.
Listeners will be shocked - shocked! - to find out that Devolver is a two-piece band, especially after hearing how layered and lushly complex their instrumentation is. Griffin Wright is the mastermind behind the guitars, keyboards and vocals, with Antares Meketa on drums (Mark Meyer plays bass on the album). Wright's vocals are full of some primitive emotion - whether it's painful longing or seething anger is unclear.
It's unfortunate that the actual lyrics are difficult to understand, but the music still succeeds in evoking a strong reaction. Only you know whether that reaction will lead you to burn the album for all your friends or use it as part of the aforementioned modern art masterpiece.
- Veronica Young
• You can't have a lukewarm, in-between opinion of Devolver - you either love 'em or you just don't. If you crave eclectic, noisy rock with an emphasis on effects, pick up Life Science. Because each song is unpredictably frenetic and complicated, it's the sort of album you would put on when you're about to create a modern art masterpiece (think wide, spastic brushstrokes), but it's also fitting to put on as background music when you're rocking yourself back and forth on one of your "bad days".
While their music is truly unique, on first listen it's the similarities you'll notice between the songs - all have the same slow-ish rock tempo, with drawn out minimalist vocals over off-kilter musical arrangements. Many of the tracks follow a similar structure and seems to loop one into the next, leading you to think to yourself, "Hmph. Devolver sounds a little like a slightly irked, non-hippie jam band" - and you would be right.
But as you listen again to Devolver, you may become increasingly impressed with the musical intricacies of each song. Devolver dares to deviate from the predictable formula of radio-friendly rock. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely makes their music less accessible to fans of melody. Their sound is strongly guitar-driven: the songs lean heavily on complicated and noisy instrumental breaks and near-psychedelic riffs, relying less on lyrical delivery.
Listeners will be shocked - shocked! - to find out that Devolver is a two-piece band, especially after hearing how layered and lushly complex their instrumentation is. Griffin Wright is the mastermind behind the guitars, keyboards and vocals, with Antares Meketa on drums (Mark Meyer plays bass on the album). Wright's vocals are full of some primitive emotion - whether it's painful longing or seething anger is unclear.
It's unfortunate that the actual lyrics are difficult to understand, but the music still succeeds in evoking a strong reaction. Only you know whether that reaction will lead you to burn the album for all your friends or use it as part of the aforementioned modern art masterpiece.
- Veronica Young