Haunting Pop Harmonies Amidst Spacey Surf Swells
With new album The Night Machines, The Casket Girls from Savannah, GA, bring eerie sweet harmonies melded with hard rhythmic instrumentals amongst a dream pop overlay. Opening track and album single “24 Hours” encapsulates this sonic theme perfectly, while next song “Tears of a Clown” gets a little more dark and twisted, noticeable immediately by the heavy sonic synth noise and electric guitar textures and accentuated by interesting harmonies that soar smoothly yet creepily overhead.
“Sixteen Forever” takes things to the beach with some surf rock hazy vibes that takes the listener into the sunshine and back in time to the golden days of youth. Faded vocals and sounds coalesce into a dreamy concoction, yet the sound is still not happy. There’s a loss experienced; looking back will never be the same as reliving the moment. Thus, the song is left with an unfinished and unsatisfied longing for what once was. “Oh fountain of youth, give me the truth,” the vocals beckon.
“Beyond a Shadow” begins in a soprano sphere with a moving but light synth underlay, while the harmonies build into an epic melange at the end of the track. “True Believers” then enters in a marchy mashup with an organ blast backdrop, vocals floating ceremoniously yet tragically. There is something haunting about the conversion. “Walk the Water” continues on an eerie yet angelic theme, beginning with a soft chilling buzz that turns into some unsettling synth riffs.
“Nightlife” follows up with some more pleasing beats. “Living in a whirlwind in the 2000,” the lyrics begin. “Good times and bad times, still good times spent.” There’s this surreal air about the track, with, “Are you happy? Are you free? Mortal immortality,” the vocals sing, followed by a repeat chorus of “Nothing’s wrong with the nightlife.” The repetition and spacey vocals add a sense of displacement; something really is wrong, but it’s being brushed over, just like taking that extra drink to forget all your troubles.
“Mermaid Cottage” and “Virginia Beach” focus on love, conveyed lyrically in an oceanfront setting. “Won’t you come with me?” the latter track echoes, featuring soaring, fuzzy harmonies that turn into the sound of calming yet cyclical ocean tides. “The Weekend’s Coming” switches things up a little with a more definitive yet slow pop rhythm and sweet yet spacey high vocals. “Bring a little light to a waning world.” The title track closes out the album with a unique, dark sound that turns into a pop-rock underlay with some descending synth improvisation on top like the end of a blend of daydreams and nightmares rolled into one sound cloud.
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