Review Summary: An unknown treasure...
It's always nice finding an unknown treasure. We Gather Stones is an alternative solo project, consisting of influences from garage rock and shoegaze to psychedelic and hawaiin Acoustic rock. In the projects admittedly short discography consisting of 3 Eps and this compilation, we've seen them go from the rather mundane debut
Had My Lows to the short-and-sweet
On island. Unlike most artists, however, the best material is by far found on this July 2015 compilation.
Demos & B Sides consists of glued together snipets of previously unreleased projects. Because of this, We Gather Stones cycles through a lot of his inspirations, showing all his different playing styles and sounds. From opener
Sheep's foreboding guitar work, to the sweet lovely acoustic melody of
I Want Your Love(which would later be released on their Novemeber 2015 Ep, aforementioned
On island), many of the tracks here couldn't be more different. Altering the soundscape often gives the compilation an interesting contrast from one song to the other, and the surprises waiting at the end of the tunnel give the listener a rewarding feeling. The last three tracks in particular are the best here, and really know how to send off the experience. Unlike anything We Gather Stones has done before or since,
Gums is a dreamy psychedelic track, with mystical guitars, tribal drumbeats, and even a noise rock break in the middle. The haunting, slow methodical tune
Dead Smile gives a real sense of lose and mourning, emotions not explored in any of the other tracks offered by the artist. And the closer, which gives a happy sensation of nostalgia and seaside adventures, foreshadows a lot of what would be found a whole two Eps later with
On Island, while simultaneously being better than any song on it. These tracks are all back to back, yet couldn't be more different. It really offers a sense of experimentation that works extremely well, especially after the linearity of their debut.
Though there are some slight disappointments, such as
Sea Chap, which sounds to similar to many of the offerings before it, or the fairly underwhelming drum work on the garage tracks(which is kind of common in the subgenre but still), nothing keeps this from being an entertaining experience, even if you were put off by their other releases. It's slightly saddening that they never made a song as good as the highlights on here before or after this, but the fact that tracks from such a small indie artist are so enjoyable to begin with gives hope for the future. If you want to check out an overlooked musical experience, check out this album. You might be surprised by what you find.
Recommended tracks :
Sheep
Gums
Dead Smile
Grey Banks
