Daily Vacation is the debut EP from The Minor
White, a five piece outfit playing rich,
carefully crafted pop songs with Beatles-style
harmonies. Augmented with touches of mandolin,
accordion and organ, the music has a lush texture
and a vaudevillian swing — the songs sound
meticulously practiced and creatively conceived.
Though the material sometimes comes across as
unimaginative, the best tracks ("A Change In The
Season" and "Moonrag") are pitch-perfect minor
waltzes — almost refreshingly old fashioned —
with a distant, late-night AM radio quality.
Of course, the band are working in a fairly
constrictive form, and they are far from the
first to mix Beatles/Brian Wilson-style pop with
acoustic, alt-country touches. But The Minor
White find subtle ways to develop and expand
their sound: little flourishes of distorted
guitar, secondary violin melodies, a few small,
distant samples. The harmonies are uniformly
excellent, but unfortunately the lead vocals are
generally too low in the mix and fail to take the
lead when these piano-driven tracks most need
definition.
There isn't a whole lot here that hasn't been
done before, but Daily Vacation is very much an
introductory effort. Well-played and confident,
this young band appears already to have found a
complete and singular sound, and that is a very
good sign. Keep an ear out for them.
-Zach Green
10/04/07
