E.P. Review: Remedios The Beauty

E.P. Review: Remedios The Beauty

Its such a pleasure for me to be reviewing Remedios The Beauty’s new E.P. because not only are they an incredibly musically talented group, but also some of the nicest musicians I have had the pleasure of meeting. The group, comprised of Chae Choi(lead vocals / guitars), Michael Adams (vocals / lead guitars), Kelsey Schwichtenberg(electric & upright bass) and Nathan Broyles (drums), played with my band, Tyrannosaurus Grace,(totally shameless self plug) in mid 2011 at The High Dive in Seattle and we were all thoroughly impressed with their show. To our surprise when we asked them where we could get an album they said they hadn’t recorded anything yet. I couldn’t believe that a band that sounded as good as they did hadn’t laid anything down, but I am happy to announce that they have just recently released their self titled E.P. which is available FOR FREE here….and I can honestly say its excellent. Not only is the recording quality fantastic but the song-writing and musicianship is top notch. Remedios is taking all of the coolest parts of indie/garage rock experimentation while still maintaining a solid sense of structure and form.

Track 1, “Dead Dog”, has an eerie, dark sound to it which is a perfect compliment to the subject matter. The song was written by Choi after seeing a dead dog on the side of the road which lead him to the idea of approaching the lyrics from the dog’s point of view during it’s final moments. The concept alone is enough to invoke an emotional response. This is certainly one of the more garage rock heavy tunes off the E.P. thanks in part to Broyles’s “no frills” drumming which focuses much more on using solid fundamental beats to help compliment each section, rather than how many drums he can hit during his fills, as well as the guitar tones which have a nice dirty overdriven sound and eventually go into full blown fuzz for the last part of the track. Chae’s vocals have a wavering vibrato to them throughout the song that further add to the spooky quality and are filled out nicely by a backup harmony from Adams during the chorus.

Track 2, “Songs Of Wisdom”, starts minimally with an atmospheric guitar that has a nice touch of delay and Choi’s vocals only which makes for a nice build when the drums kick in to bring the song into a tight groove. The second guitar then comes in, melodically dancing around the initial riff and harmonizing it in a unique and way; an interesting choice that gives the song a distinctive sound where I feel a lot of bands would default to backing the melody line with a simple chord progression. The choruses are once again filled out by Adams’s vocal harmonies who’s vocal timbre is a perfect compliment to Choi’s. Post chorus, the tune goes into an aggressive dissonance heavy breakdown reminiscent of some of the more cacophonous stuff you would hear from bands like Alice In Chains or Nirvana during the grunge era.

Track 3, “Revival Hymn”, is without a doubt the “hit” from the E.P. The initial guitar line is a beautifully played chord progression laden with arpeggiated embellishments that come ringing out through the unmistakable sound of a stratocaster played on a sparking clean channel, very reminiscent of something from Hendrix or John Frusciante from The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The song has definite country influence, thanks in part to the delightful slide guitar work on it, but has a genre transcending quality where it wouldn’t seem at all out of place along side rock or indie tunes. The chorus feels like one of the biggest on the E.P. despite featuring no vocal harmonies and clean guitars throughout thanks to the killer vocal hook where the singer(I can’t tell if its Choi or Adams on this one) belts out the line which causes some gruffness in his voice and adds a definite rock and roll edge to the track. The guitar solo on this track is also one of my favorite off the E.P. as well. With blend of country and rock to it, it further enhances the genre blending quality of the song.

Track 4, “Do You Dare”, is a funk infused rock track that again brings to mind some of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ work. The tune starts off with a totally fuzzed out guitar line that screams away on top of the thumping drum groove laid down by Broyles that pounds every downbeat in a way that makes you not be able to help wanting to move to it. As the song moves into the verse section the hypnotizing rhythm of Schwichtenberg’s bass really comes through as the guitar becomes more sparse. It has a nice subtle distortion to it that really enhances the dirty funk sound of the track. About 2/3 of the way through the track the song goes into a finger picking heavy breakdown where the pounding flow of the drums dies out and Adams goes into an almost banjo-like line while Choi holds out lush, dreamy chords underneath but then the section seamlessly builds back into the original groove to finish the song out.

Remedios has only been around for a short time so it’s great to see them already getting their first E.P. out which again, you can get for free here. The band currently plays out in the Seattle area but keep an eye on their show schedule to see if they’re coming to your area anytime soon and also check them out on facebook.

-Justin