DEL CIELO “Us vs. Them”
Everytime I look at the title of this album, I keep thinking of the BAD RELIGION song of the almost reversed name, “Them and Us,” and particularly, the part where Greg Graffin sings, “we can take them all.” DEL CIELO sounds nothing like BAD RELIGION – not even close, but the words, “we can take them all,” aptly describes this group’s power-pop attack on Us vs. Them, the band’s second full-length, where the gloriously melodic vocals of Andrea Lisi soar heavenly above the mid-tempo churnings of the three-piece’s tightly wound rhythm section. Reminiscent of the latter day sounds of Florida’s defunct DISCOUNT, DEL CIELO flirt with both punk and indie rock influences, often stopping somewhere in the middle. Lisi vocal’s however, never get crowded out of the picture, and her syrupy croon is a love-it-or-leave-it dealbreaker with this release. Not surprisingly, the most memorable tracks of Us v. Them are those that feature additional vocals from bass player Basla Andolsun. Her sugary delivery isn’t far from that of Lisi, and together, the two voices do much to plug in harmonies where called for. There’s an effortless pace to the thirty-six minutes of music on here, and the eleven songs march forward with no hesitation. I can’t say the lyrics on here had me at the edge of my seat (“Don’t bother saying hi to me / It’s only been eight years since the time I slept at your house / I was only a kid, I was scared to death by you took my hand anyway, saying everything is going to be ok,” from “Joe Goth”), but more often than not, the relationship-themed material is readily passable. Give DEL CIELO a chance by checking out some tunes on the Lovitt Records site, because likely, if you dig one or two tracks from Us vs. Them, you’ll have no problem getting into the whole release.
Lovitt
