Reily - We Were Archaeologists

It’s odd, but so far this year the CD’s that have blown my mind the most are both only 5 song EP’s. The first one is the excellent Hero Cycle’s phenomenal “Lakes And Ponds” EP, which I reviewed a few weeks ago. The second of course, is Reily’s “We Were Archaeologists.” I know that I’ve raved about them quite a lot this week, and I assure you this will be it for a little while, but this EP is beautiful beyond words.

I purchased both their first full-length and the EP at the same time. “Listen To The Rain” is a very promising debut that relies heavily on Lisa Horvath and Megan Bonnell’s captivating and unique vocal style. It’s a little bit like The Cranberries meet Sarah Harmer, and it definitely falls more into the singer-songwriter end of the spectrum. “We Were Archaeologists,” however, takes giant leaps forward into orchestral pop territory that has been grazed by artists like Stars, Delgados and, more recently, Young Galaxy. But in many ways this EP surpasses even them. Again, Lisa and Megan’s harmonies are like nothing I’ve ever heard before. They both possess a similar technique, but Lisa’s vocals are in a slightly lower register than Megan’s, which makes them sound almost haunting together. For this release, they also introduce the bass-y vocal stylings of Nathan Stretch, which offsets the female vocals, adding yet another layer to this already multi-layered outfit. There are two songs in particular where the three voices are used to enormous effect. “When You Came Around, I Came Around Too” is your typical boy-girl relationship-type song, but then the third voice comes in, acting as sort of an inner monologue-type idea that simply blows the doors off of anything that’s been done before. And the final track, “Talk Sweet; Walk Tall [Breathe Deep]” is an exercise in vocal gymnastics, where all three singers seem to be in some sort of vocal competition with one another that sounds nothing short of awesome, especially when you consider that Nathan’s pounding bass, Anthony James victorious drum technique and Nick Bernal’s wailing guitar are also an active part of the competition. The song “We Are Geologists” is probably the hookiest song in the bunch, with a repetitive chorus that is very BSS-like. And “Raindrops” is just so darned beautiful.

I’ve been given many CD’s to listen to this week, some good, some not so good, but in between every CD on my list, I’ve been enthusiastically coming back to “We Were Archaeologists.” At their shows, they’ve introduced a few songs for an upcoming CD that sounds like it’s going to be absolutely euphoric. Pick up their music now, and go see them live before you’re dishing out $50 to see them at Massey Hall.

You can listen to their music on their myspace page and you can purchase their CD’s and other merchandise at their online store.

Photo is courtesy of Brian Emmanuel.