By: David Schultz

On their 2007 debut, Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink, Los Angeles based Bodies Of Water came up with a dazzling blend of hymnal choruses and orchestral arrangements that sounded like glee club outcasts run amok in a downtown club. On “Gold, Tan, Peach And Grey,” the opening track of A Certain Feeling, their follow up on the Secretly Canadian label, Bodies Of Water pick up right where they left off, reviving their bracing formula of soaring multi-voiced harmonies and a playful call-and-response give and take. After that point though, Bodies Of Water tone down the choral gymnastics and meld their instruments instead of their voices with the result being a startlingly gritty compilation that reverberates with Ray Manzarek style keyboard riffs and Velvet Underground inspired industrial jams.

A Certain Feeling moves through garage psychedelic fueled repetitive rhythms, feeling-groovy, Chicago-derived jazz-pop licks and droning, too-often dreary, vocals; on “Even In A Cave,” they cycle through all three in just over three minutes. A little darker (musically) than their debut, the true revelation is how quickly they’ve developed into a cohesive instrumental unit. On “If I Were A Bell” and “Darling Be Here,” David Metcalf (guitar) and his wife Meredith (keyboards) steer Jessie Conklin (drums) and Kyle Gladden (bass) into highly effective industrial jams that careen forward and sizzle in their own momentum.

On each of the nine songs, there’s a nice wrinkle: the ponderous weight of “Keep Me On” contains with a Neil Young cribbed guitar solo; “Under The Pines” keeps its Yes tinged majesty while remaining defiantly lo-fi and Thom Yorke would smile appreciatively at the intro to “The Mud Gapes Open.” Unfortunately, A Certain Feeling looks to be the last album for this iteration of the band as Conklin will be leaving the band. For their upcoming tour, she'll be replaced by drummer Jamie Pitts and singer/guitarist/violinist Julie Carpenter.

Labels: Bodies Of Water