Search - Suit of Lights :: Suit of Lights

Amplifier Magazine Review

Brian Baker | 07/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights

- Amplifier Magazine

New Jersey multiinstrumentalist Joe Darone has been making music in some form or fashion since he was in the fifth grade. It would only seem to follow that by now he knows what he's doing, and what he's doing is damn near everything. On his debut as Suit of Lights (a term that describes a matador's outfit), Darone takes a page from the Eels' Mark Everett, with a powerfully emotive ten-song cycle about the literal and figurative repercussions of death. Since life is a shifting series of disparate events, Darone also changes and blends genres at will. "Waking Up is Good" is a sublime tribute to Elvis Costello, "Goodbye Silk City" is baroque Beatles as envisioned by Fountains of Wayne, "The Air of Ambition" reinforces the Eels references, and "Swallow" melds Middle Eastern sinew with poppy new wave. Like life, Suit of Lights isn't always perfect, but Darone's passion for his work makes this album a fascinating treat. -BRIAN BAKER

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Review from Hush NJ

Jason Notte | New Jersey, USA | 07/31/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When we reviewed Suit of Lights' 7" late last year, we couldn't stop tripping over ourselves to applaud the Clash-like "Waking Up Is Good" or the Beatles-esque bit of Paterson, N.J., oral history that was "Goodbye Silk City" -- a tribute to lead singer Joe Darone's father. Well here we are months later, and we can't get over how he's expounded on the original idea. Tracks like "Out of The Running" and "Slap Me Five" are more akin to The Shins or The Postal Service than Darone's punk roots and it's not a stretch to say that the full, almost orchestral sound of "Who Stands Beneath A Dream" is a direct parallel to Radiohead. The recording quality is top notch and the instrumentation is layered and widely varied. Darone's vocals have matured into a low, melancholy strain that sounds oddly like '80s favorite Joe Jackson ("Is She Really Going Out With Him," "Steppin' Out," "Breaking Us In Two"). This body of work can compete with the best the slowcore scene has to offer, but displays a musical and instrumental diversity up there with the most progressive bands commercial music has to offer. This is a stimulating, spectacular soundscape. Like its namesake, the rhinestone-laden coats worn by Spanish matadors, Suit of Lights' debut is breathtaking and will captivate you from start to finish. -- Jason Notte

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