Letting Up Despite Great Faults Letting Up Despite Great Faults Posted January 19th, 2010 by BVaz

Well for my first review of the new year I will jump off on this one I received not long ago, the self titled debut from the LA band Letting Up Despite Great Faults, which was released in October of last year. These guys have perfected an awesome mix of shoegaze-y jams with a distinct pop leaning, almost a cross between M83 and Pains of Being Pure at Heart. There is a mixing of dreamy electronic elements, echoe-y vocals with occasional reverbed and occasional fuzzed out guitars. It creates an awesome sound and I think this is an absolutely great album.

The album kicks off with “In Steps”, which showcases the dreamy electro-scapes juxtaposed with the reverb guitars that becomes a theme here with the dissonant vocals. It is a great started, the real fuzz edge to the record kicks off with Track 3 – “The Colors Aren’t You Or Me”. An electronic backing beat and keys are washed over with a distorted guitar and vocals to create that great wall of sound. I think these guys would absolutely kill it live, they are actually on tour with a stop at SXSW coming up as well, I will post the tour dates at the end of the review here so you guys can check them out. They would be on my top 2-3 bands to see at SXSW for sure.

They show that slow guitar/electro combination into a great ballad form with “Pause”, the fifth track. Everything is so well calculated and blended together that nothing feels out of place and you really get that dizzy dreamy feeling you get from those driving, building M83 tracks. But they have the fuzzy guitar rock out in their repetoire as well, as the closing track, “Release”, is a Pains of Being Pure at Heart-esque fuzzy rock out.

I think you really have the great sonic space feeling of M83 with some more pop leanings and less 80s influence here. They have a great ear for creating some unbelievable hooks that really take the listener further each time. In a song, just when you think they have really combined as many elements as possible to build a great wall of sound, they break it down and add something else in there that, once added, fits in so well that you wonder how the song did without it to begin with.

At times very chilled out, but also at times building into great dance-party jams and fuzz-y rock outs, this album runs the area between all of these so well that it is remarkable. This album is extremely good from top to bottom and I highly, highly recommend giving these guys a listen. If you love the built up sonic wall of sound that you get with M83 and Cut Copy (less dance-centric than Cut Copy, less 80s-centric than M83) but also love that peppy-pop fuzz-y rock outs you get with Pains of Being Pure at Heart, this album is right up your alley. I love the mix of guitars and electronic elements they have here, and some of the songs just have such a great feel to them, it is hard not to love this one. Check it out, and if you are at SXSW this is a band to see for sure. I will list all the tour dates below.

BV Rating: 86

Letting Up Despite Great Faults 2010 Tour Dates:
01/19 Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar
01/30 San Diego, CA @ The Ruby Room
02/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge w/Gamble House
02/27 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill, Noise Pop Fest w/Memory Tapes
03/08 Denver, CO @ The Walnut Room
03/10 Chicago, IL @ Double Door w/Loyal Divide
03/11 Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands w/ArpLine, Home Video, MillionYoung
03/12 Manhattan, NY @ Pianos w/MillionYoung
03/15 Boston, MA @ Middle East Club
03/16 Philadelphia, PA @ North Star
03/17 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn
03/19-20 Austin, TX @ SXSW, venues TBA

Letting Up Despite Great Faults – In Steps – From Letting Up Despite Great Faults
Letting Up Despite Great Faults – The Colors Aren’t You Or Me – From Letting Up Despite Great Faults

Play Samples from Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Letting Up Despite Great Faults:

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