Search - Dears :: No Cities Left

As good as everyone says

killerpooh | Earth | 09/01/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The reason so many reviewers resort to comparing the music on this cd to the work of so many others is because influences are everywhere, and it's hard to discuss just what makes this performance so impressive without mentioning them--the Smiths, sure, but also Pink Floyd, the Swans, the Cure, Joy Division--in short, if you've found your way to this cd, every band you probably either love or have loved at some point. The amazing, astonishing thing is that The Dears resolve all those influences into something new and imminently listenable and evocative. Repeatedly.



After you've heard this cd a few times, the connections between all the above will seem so obvious you'll wonder why you hadn't seen them already. You'll find yourself, after so many years of music reaching deeply into your heart, finally understanding at least partially why it has and who you are.



At least I did.



If you're like me, you'll realize quickly that the music on this cd will stay with you your entire life. It will become, like Disintegration or The Burning World, personally historic. And if nothing on this cd is quite as wrenching as God Damn the Sun or Atmosphere, Postcard from Purgatory does at least come awfully close."

With The Dears you are in for a very special musical treat

Manny Hernandez | Bay Area, CA | 05/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I remember thinking when I first heard "No Cities Left" by The Dears, how much the singer of the band sounded like Morrissey, why not admit it. But then I found moments in the album that reminded me of a thousand other things: David Bowie, Joy Division and even King Crimson... all of it, wrapped in a mantle that carries an unmistakeable flavor of French cabaret music with a raw feel, in the best style of the late Serge Gainsbourg.



Largely the result of the financial support of the Canada Music Fund, The Dears is the Montreal-based musical brainchild of multi-talented Murray Lightburn. Formed in 1995, "No Cities Left" constituted the band's second full length album. The album has an overall dark feel that carries a certain level of anguish in Lightburn's storytelling, typically aided by atmospheres driven by his guitar, along with changes in tempo in most songs and the overpowering presence of mellotron-like sounding strings that accompany the band's work through most of the album.



The Dears meld in so many influences that you can get almost tired of identifying them... plus it really doesn't do much to do so, since they have already carved their own special niche that will probably serve as a deep influence for generations of musicians to come. For now, enjoy "No Cities Left" and the band's scheduled August 2006 release, a song of which you can enjoy through their MySpace page. It is impossible to argue: with The Dears you are in for a very special musical treat."

Good, but it does sound a lot like Blur...

librarygirl | Oxford, UK | 02/25/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I forgot that a friend had given me this album so I added it to my mp3 player and put it in the playlist. It's been playing with a mix of other bands on shuffle. I like the songs well enough, but I kept thinking perhaps I'd accidentally added a Blur album I never listened to. I had to look up this band to see if it was a super group with Damon Albarn sort of like an English equivalent of Reindeer Section. Imagine my surprise when I found out it isn't a super group and Damon Albarn isn't involved. Those other reviewers who said that the singer never sounds like Albarn have obviously only ever heard two Blur songs - 'Song 2' and 'Girls and Boys'. If these are the only songs you've ever heard by Blur, then no, The Dears do not sound like Blur, but if you've ever listened to an entire Blur album, you'll clearly hear Blur's influence on this band - especially on the song 'Warm and Sunny Days'. There are also definitely influences from The Smiths/Morrissey, but to me the resemblance to Blur was striking."