The Appleseed Cast...

15 or 20 years ago The Appleseed Cast would've been one of those new wave bands that puts out consistently good records but doesn't get the attention they deserve while bands like Johnny Hates Jazz and The Cutting Crew have their 15 minutes of fame before being cyro-frozen until VH1 decides to thaw them out for an episode of Where Are They Now. The Appleseed Cast over the years has done something a lot of bands aren't allowed to do anymore and that's develop. In their early years they wore the emo badge though their sound was more complex than most of the bands associated with that three letter word, noisy complicated rhythms probably put some off. Then the band went and grew up. They experimented with touches of electronica and glimmering, meandering stoner rock. They were stretching and garnered comparisons to Kid A, deserved or not.

Well here we are in 2006 with Peregrine. The Appleseed Cast continues to stay true to what they hear in their heads. Peregrine is unique in that the band is able to give the listener both dissonance and melody often in the same song. The songs can be both gentle and explosive at the same time.

In order to connect this whole thing with my opening paragraph regarding unappreciated eighties album I'll say this album reminds me very much of The Chameleons UK, specifically the album Strange Times. No easy feat. At the risk of gushing like a fanboy (which I'm not I came to Appleseed Cast rather late in their career) I just don't hear many albums like Peregrine anymore. It's clear that the band is true to their sound, damn the torpedoes. Good stuff.

1 song from Peregrine:

Sunlit And Ascending. This song is probably the poppiest on the record and desrves to be on many a mixtape (yeah, I still call them mixtapes).