Zillionaire captured a glowing depression on the new LP The Street Lights Have Been Turned Down Low. The lights could be turned off and this band would still find the ambivalence of 90′s indie rock by bands likePolvo and Codeine.
Two guitars sort through mild dissonance and goes well with jazz chords over steady rhythms and hushed melanchronous vocals. The result is one of resignation without weakness. Zillionaire play a good bit of slowcore – a rock genre whose feet dragging pace can sometimes wear listeners down. ButThe Street Lights Have Been Turned Down Lowhas a variety of approaches and enough dynamics to keep your ear. Quick stops often usher in part changes, flavoring songs with contrasts in mood, tempo, and melody. Album production is solid. Expect a fitting mix where vocals hover behind jangle-toned 6 strings and a warm, agile bass^ guitar. Song highlights are many. Slowcore comes front and center on opener “I Won’t Let You Down (This Time)”, a dissonant track too sleepy to conjure melody. Like much of the album, this is downbeat, minimal. That changes with “Loose Leaf”, a faster, more melodic track featuring the lyrics, “How did we get so far ahead of us? I told you a hundred times that I was done / I told you a hundred times before tonight / I’ll tell you a hundred times again”. This statement of resignation perfectly reflects the lyrics. Vocals come out monotonous with moments of inflection usually gathered at the chorus. “The Occasion of the Water Heater” jazzes with subtlety while a different vocal in a higher register makes its first of 2 appearances. Here, drums hide behind great instrumentation and the lyrics, “There it goes, and it goes an inch an hour / We’ll stretch it out, we'll make it last”; and right there, Zillionaire sums up the meditative stare they hold up 5:35 minutes of “Jesus Told Me So”, is shattered by the distortion of 2 heavy chords and a few simple high note tunes. “Tonight Will Be Alright” is catchy, relaxing and features a brief feminine harmony that shows up here and there throughout this album. “Put It On” brings back the vocalist from track 4 as the song through various parts finding plenty of hooks and strings.
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