Earlimart

Treble & Tremble

Description

Earlimart's second full-length for Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, titled "Treble & Tremble," is filled with the warm vocals and expansive, orchestral rock arrangements that earned the band's 2003 releases "The Avenues" E.P. and "Everyone Down Here" critical praise from journalists and peers alike.

Reviews

Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2008-03-28
Summary: "Fluff"

Music: 5/10 Vocals: 1/5 Lyrics: 3/5 Production: 4/5
Total: 13/25: C-

I have a friend named Earl. I downloaded Earlimart. Earlimart is much cheesier than Earl.

There's nothing wrong with this album. There's just nothing right about it either. It is very generic pop rock music. It comes close on a few occasions to be good but never gets there. The singer kind of breathily rasps his vocals. At least the production is pretty good.

Basically, don't download Earlimart. There is nothing here to like or dislike making me wonder why they tried at all.

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Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2007-08-17
Summary: "a refreshing album"

Although I bristle a bit at comparisons (usually), Earlimart's "Treble and Tremble" conjures bits of Elliott Smith's vocal delivery, Grandaddy's urban-sprawly submerged rhythmic chug, and Dios (Malos)'s sun-warped pop song structures -- and I mean this in the most complimentary way.

There are less jiggly keyboards and punky outbursts than Grandaddy and more of an emphasis on acoustic guitar-based tunesmithing; less pathos than Smith but just as much grain and development to the emotional content; possibly a more seasoned approach to production than Dios. And while touchstones abound, Earlimart has created an album of lasting beauty that dovetails nicely with a quiet summer day and an unfiltered wheat beer, perhaps. Or a slightly brewed-too-strong coffee.

"T&T" is a bit of a sleeper album -- while the melodies and songs don't necessarily jump out of the speakers and announce themselves, they do burrow slowly into your consciousness and make a cozy nest after a couple listens. Going on a long roadtrip? Well T&T might not be the album that will keep you awake late at night on I-80 -- but it is ideal for listening to when you reach your destination. Even if your destination is just the back porch.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2005-09-05
Summary: "Smiling through the tears..."

The first time I heard this cd, I was minding my own business at a bookstore in Houston. I was suddenly hit with 'Hold On Slow Down' which generated an intense sadness as I too had just lost a very good friend to drugs. I was trying to sip hot coffee as well but you tend to shake a little when the tears are swelling up in your eyes. Ouch! Burned hands. 'First Instant Last Report' is my favorite though because it IS the smile shinning through those crocodile tears. I recommend it! (Not crying and burning your hands but buying this cd.)

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Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2005-03-22
Summary: "Not a Clone, Despite Popular Opinion"

Forget what you've heard about Earlimart's "Treble & Tremble" being a rip-off of Elliott Smith and forget the Pixie past. Earlimart has something better than that for you in "Treble & Tremble"

T&T is certainly in the same vein as Elliott's soulfull, heartwrenching, lyrical piano and acoustic driven songwriting. But it is no clone. Earlimart instead works within the genre Smith pioneered to produce something familiar, yet still original. Songs such as "All They Ever Do Is Talk" and "Heaven Adores You" are the most remeniscent of Smith's style on the album, yet they are good in their own right: not as immitation but homage.

Though Aaron Espinoza is certainly lyrically talented, he can of course in no way replace or compare with Elliott's significance and style. But he is willing to bring an experimental element listeners should find to be significant in the development of a unique style for the band. Particularly fascinating to me are two songs: "Sounds" which is a great rock-out piece echoing a bit of Pedro the Lion. But most intriguing is "Unintentional Tape Manipulations," a crazed mix of distortion, noise, acoustic guitar, and haunting vocal filtering that makes for something truly original and fascinating to listen to.

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Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2005-01-26
Summary: "Amazing Follow Up"

I enjoyed Everyone Down Here so much and felt it was a very worthy debut for this band. They took some leaps and bounds to create this beautiful record.

It aches my stomach with how great "The Hidden Track" is, complete bliss and sets you up for a good feeling on the rest of the album. Where as the rest of the album clicks and misses upon first listening. But I find the best stuff is when you hear it a couple of times, usually when a great album sinks in it gets flooded.

No matter how many times I hear "The Hidden Track" I just go to pieces. This is quite the masterful follow up if you ask me.