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At the Vegan Witch Trials

Spy Island

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Album Review

Spy Island is a Portland-based indie pop outfit with a slightly spaced-out edge (not entirely unlike a less lysergic the Flaming Lips or Dirty Projectors minus the Afro-beat influences) and no shortage of cleverness at their disposal (not dissimilar from Pavement). But Spy Island very well could give cleverness a good name again if they keep making records like At the Vegan Witch Trials; instead of aiming for studied sloppiness or musical eccentricity for its own sake, Spy Island have embraced tight, tuneful arrangements and melodies that put some rock & roll muscle behind songs that show an impressive level of craft, and the result is a grand exercise in small-scale record making. Vocalists Dale Nicholls and Lucy Martin are both strong lead singers, and their harmonies reveal just the right snarky edge while making their too-cool-for-school lyrics sound reasonable (and even human), and the ensemble that backs them up generates an admirably diverse palette of tonal colors, from the garage rock overtones of "Hot Weather Anatomy" to the folky textures of "Vegan Witch Wars," and the lovely, languid pop of "Vegan Witch Food Cart." And while the credits claim At the Vegan Witch Trials was recorded "in some of Portland's most illustrious bedrooms and basements," you wouldn't guess that to listen to the results; this music sounds fully professional with just enough polish to help the hooks get over, and plenty of bands with larger budgets haven't been as well-served as the clean, spacious, concise production suits this band. At the Vegan Witch Trials is smart, joyous, and genuinely witty music that consistently satisfies, and it's nice to know that America's basements and bedrooms are still kicking out some great low-budget records at a time when the majors can't seem to find worthwhile new acts.

Customer Reviews

AllMusic Review = 4 Stars!!

Spy Island is a Portland-based indie pop outfit with a slightly spaced-out edge (not entirely unlike a less lysergic the Flaming Lips or Dirty Projectors minus the Afro-beat influences) and no shortage of cleverness at their disposal (not dissimilar from Pavement). But Spy Island very well could give cleverness a good name again if they keep making records like At the Vegan Witch Trials; instead of aiming for studied sloppiness or musical eccentricity for its own sake, Spy Island have embraced tight, tuneful arrangements and melodies that put some rock & roll muscle behind songs that show an impressive level of craft, and the result is a grand exercise in small-scale record making. Vocalists Dale Nicholls and Lucy Martin are both strong lead singers, and their harmonies reveal just the right snarky edge while making their too-cool-for-school lyrics sound reasonable (and even human), and the ensemble that backs them up generates an admirably diverse palette of tonal colors, from the garage rock overtones of "Hot Weather Anatomy" to the folky textures of "Vegan Witch Wars," and the lovely, languid pop of "Vegan Witch Food Cart." And while the credits claim At the Vegan Witch Trials was recorded "in some of Portland's most illustrious bedrooms and basements," you wouldn't guess that to listen to the results; this music sounds fully professional with just enough polish to help the hooks get over, and plenty of bands with larger budgets haven't been as well-served as the clean, spacious, concise production suits this band. At the Vegan Witch Trials is smart, joyous, and genuinely witty music that consistently satisfies, and it's nice to know that America's basements and bedrooms are still kicking out some great low-budget records at a time when the majors can't seem to find worthwhile new acts. 4stars. -Mark Deming

Buy one for a friend.

It's hard to know where to start with At the Vegan Witch Trials for a lot reasons. First, it's an incredibly ambitious album that continues an effort to tease out the arrangements and themes of the album from the sonic wall that often obscured them in A Treasury of Great Science Fiction. This process, beginning with their last EP Famous Shipwrecks, tracks well to my own tastes maturing and let's a tableau of great song writing stand beyond the frenetic song making.

Second, Witch Trials feels like two albums joined together by some kind of dark alchemy. There is no clear delineation between the originals, rather, many of the tracks jump the line at a familiar gate -- the trademark Spy Island garage crunch -- and then wonderfully, inexplicably, turn back on themselves and reconfigure effortlessly into the emergent and exquisite pop sensibility that made Famous Shipwrecks such an extraordinary (and surprising) pleasure. Don't think Iggy Pop/David Bowie, think Elvis Costello/Eliot Smith.

And lastly, because the enigmatic and delightful song arrangement, which shows so much craft, talent and obsession, seems at times like a challenge to the listener to misunderstand. It's as if Dale Nicholls, the brain trust behind Witch Trials, doesn't necessarily understand the trajectory of his song writing either, but is content to play from the hip and let the story find it's own way out.

At the Vegan Witch Trials is a fantastic union between the harried music making of 2005's A Treasury of Great Science Fiction and the more somber but endearing Famous Shipwrecks. Its a pleasure that shouldn't be misunderstood for it's maturity.

allmusic.com is right on.

I find that I usually agree with allmusic.com's take on things, and such is the case here. This is a great record! It's concise, clever, and extremely cool. Made by a man who loves music, this record uses the Kinks, Elvis Costello, Sloan and Pavement, as a musical backdrop for some very clever Dylanesque lyrics. There is a lot of sincerity and a lot of satire in this 10 song album and it continues to grow on me!

Top Albums and Songs By Spy Island

At the Vegan Witch Trials, Spy Island
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Customer Ratings

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