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Cor de Lux — Media
(Bandcamp no#, 2023, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2023-04-12

Media Cover art

Cor de Lux is a (relatively) new quartet from North Carolina, and Media is their second full length album (following Dream Life from 2020), although several songs from it have been released previously as singles on their Bandcamp site. Their style could best be described as spacy post-punk dream pop with an attitude, imbued with threads of aggressive rock. Without any question, their sound calls forth a late-70s sound that should appeal to any listeners who lived through that era; it’s snarly, edgy, and compact, with male and female vocals, no extended prog epics, no quiet parts — it’s a cut-to-the-chase hard driving sound with eclectic embelishments. Tim Lusk and Dawn Moraga both play guitars and share the vocals; it’s Moraga’s voice that carries that dream pop element, while Lusk’s vocals lean a little more toward the spoken side, though they sound great when singing together. The band is rounded out by drummer and vocalist Dana Quinn and bassist John Bliven, both holding down a busy bottom end. Even though the release date was February 2023, the songs came together over a two year period from 2021-22, and convey much of the angst of the then-ongoing covid pandemic. Ten songs with standout cuts like “Slogans,” “The Grey,” “Futures,” and “Whose Side,” all are concise pieces within the three to five minute range, only the closer “Ships” stretches out a bit to the six minute mark. There’s a lot of excellent songcraft herein — the band plays well but doesn’t spend too much time indulging in solos. I imagine this would probably be a great band to see live.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Cor de Lux

More info
http://cordelux.bandcamp.com/album/media

 

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