Deas Vail - All the Houses Look the Same
Rating: 7.5/10
Don’t be confused by the name. Deas Vail isn’t foreign. They are straight up center of the USA indie music with a style for all 50 states.
The Russellville, Arkansas group, which carries amazing similarities to This Day & Age, joined hands in 2003 but didn’t find their way into any limelight until being signed by Christian Rock guru Mark Lee Townshend and his upstart Brave New World Records in 2005. From that point Wes Blaylock (lead vocals) and crew (Laura [keyboard], Kelsey [drums], Andy [guitar] and Jonathan [bass]) have crept slowly onto an indie scene scattered with synth users and maniacal drum players. Their 2007 release of All the Houses Look the Same escaped from typical indie and instead conformed outside the box with plenty of optimism.
Aided by the impressive singing range of Blaylock, which is Deas Vail’s signature, ATHLTS calmly projects message after message of turning fear into hope. Without doubt, the naming of the first song, “Standing”, and the final song, “…Still” portray that overcoming adversity is a way of life.
As the first and last song sing stories of hope, the middle of the album quietly has inset similar stories of looking past the darkness and toward the light of day. Without this upbeat and optimistic charge to their lyrics, Deas Vail could easily fall closer to emo than indie. But they didn’t.
Matching each other eloquently across the board, the instrumental and vocal aspects of ATHLTS help send the ‘just be calm’ message even stronger. At track five “Shoreline” captures Deas Vail at their best. Not only does the piano/keyboard playing (similar to “Piano Song” from The Starting Line) add a hypnotic melody but a violin and the stretching vocals of Blaylock carry any heart from a black room to a sunny ocean view.
At “Follow Sound” several tracks later, the fluid transition of vocals and instruments continues with a rapping drum and weary synthesizer to accompany an accommodating voice that sings “and I fell asleep and no one said anything to me, so I never knew that you were ever lost wondering this world without a chance of getting through.” Mid song the vocals cut low and a thumping bass and excited guitar fill the gaps with the ever-pressing hope before the pending energy releases with another high octane serenade ensues from Blaylock.
Deas Vail carries a positive spirit to another level, but without their ability to change from song to song (giddy), they could lose the luster that makes any group original. Although somewhat similar in style throughout ATHLTS, the bending factor for Deas Vail falls within the fact that they change their lead instruments throughout the album, saving a monotonous sound and bored listener. “Surface” could be referred to as a harder song on the album with its guttural guitar but a high male voice to follow creates an entirely new feel. As “Rewind” begins with a hummingbird-paced guitar it also ends with an unworriedly played piano. Not only do these instruments find their place in the album but the occasional violin and synth keyboard mix things up.
The high-range singing actually negatively affects the album. If Blaylock hit some softer notes more often instead of constantly resorting to his almost femininely high ballads, then this album would appeal to a larger scale of music listeners. Instead of controlling their greatest asset, Deas Vail falls back on the vocals when they don’t need to, hurting the overall sound.
With certain setbacks it is easy to say All the Houses Look the Same wasn’t the best album in 2007. It might not make your CD player for longer than a week due to the often-high vocals. What this album brings is a positive message rarely found on listenable albums. As emo music tends to bring about feelings of despair, Deas Vail brings about hope. Besides the message, the five members of this group sync with their talent. Blaylock’s strong range is tuned to. The keyboard mixes in and out of style. The bass and guitar play slowly and evenly when needed. The drums don’t break out too early. When ATHLTS might fall out of your player one week, it could fall back in the next.
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