Staff Reviews

Califone - All My Friends are Funeral Singers

Review by Philip Bloomfield

This is a deeply strange and at once comforting set, lurching between jagged junkyard blues (‘Giving Away The Bride’), softly strummed OC soundtrack material (the actually pretty wonderful ‘Funeral Singers’) and barhouse folk meets desert jam (‘Evidence’). »

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in an underground music landscape where 140 characters equals 'journalism' and lone mp3s propel bands to momentary internet stardom, bands are here today and gone tomorrow. califone is a band that defies this blueprint. their albums are full of layers and textures, offering endless depth, entire universes to lose yourself in - and beyond the thick spectrum of sound, they do something even more important: they write great songs. califone is a band that will stand the test of time. the band is at the peak of its powers on 'all my friends are funeral singers', its sixth song based album. the long-awaited follow-up to 2006's acclaimed 'roots and crowns', the album is the strongest collection of songs in a career with no shortage of strength. the subtlety and detail of califone's previous work is present here - the atmospheres are carefully nuanced, the percussion is both rattling and melodic, the melodies are rich and soulful, interspersed throughout softly strummed folk and electrified blues. 'all my friends are funeral singers' is a dense collage of sounds, expertly formed into fully realized pop songs. the songwriting is fleshed out, the musical vision is boiling over, the sonic experimentation is indulgent and dense, yet there's a great cohesion, a sense of purpose and a newfound focus to this califone effort. never has the band felt so vibrant, so alive, on one of their albums. 'all my friends are funeral singers' is built for the long haul. make space on your record shelf, because this one is here to stay. on dead oceans.
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