The Glide | A Future for the Dead (s/r)

I liked what I heard enough to download the entire album.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Often, music just shows up, unannounced, unfamiliar. One thing I’m pretty adamant about, though, is that it show up in hard copy. Oh sure, it’s the digital age and all that, and if you’re a label or a publicist I know and respect, I’ll give your download a chance. However, if you’re a band and you send me an email saying, in effect, we’re a Chicago electro-indie-rock band who has just released a CD and we want you to download it and review it…well, your chances are slim at best.

It must have been my mood, then, when the email arrived from said Chicago electro-indie-rock band beseeching me to listen and respond. A funny thing happened: I actually clicked on the MySpace link. And listened to a few songs. And liked what I heard enough to download the entire album.

The members of the Glide are very apparent fans of the Faint-and as good as the Faint is, that’s not a bad thing. And while their debut release, A Future for the Dead, isn’t entirely original, it also isn’t entirely derivative, either. There are enough guitars to ground the programmed bits, and enough programming to let you know this isn’t just another rock band.

With its uber-catchy synths and bass, "Ashes" would have been a more fitting intro track than the slightly soaring "Monster." Listening to "Ashes," you can see the strobe lights pulsing in the smoke onstage. This song’s dark and driving, and more than a little bit dangerous. Just what the nice girls need, no? And while "Midnight Flower" takes the tempo down a notch, it remains fully rooted in the unlit corner.

After "Ghost," a song that builds too low and too late, "The Vanishing" sees the return of weighed-down yet dance-heavy beats…emphasis on the heavy. "Into the Fire" takes a turn into pop territory, a bit lighter than its predecessors. "Dead Beat," the closest thing there is to a title track, is a layered instrumental with razor-sharp edges. Without warning, "This Is Everlasting" grabs you from the get-go, a body-writhing obsessive listen. Stripped down and searching, "A Billion Lights" is a fitting end to this worthy debut.

It’s been said that there is nothing new left in music, and the Glide make a good argument in support of that theory. With A Future for the Dead, they also throw their names into a pool of better-known and well-respected artists. Well worth a listen, this one, and perhaps more (and more) than once. B | Laura Hamlett

RIYL: The Faint, Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb