Dream Boat - Fevers EP (2010) [Amdiscs] // Grade: B

2010 has been earmarked by the rise of Glo-Fi/Chillwave, Witch House and even the still prevalent hangover of Shoegazes revival a few years back. So what would happen were someone to come along and string all of that together? Would the same blogs (yes this blog included) falling over backwards to puff up those scenes embrace such a timely stew or admonish it for being so blatantly opportunistic? I guess we’ll find out soon enough, but one thing I’ll say is that Dream Boat manages to be pretty enthralling in this short sampling than a sum of it’s obvious parts might indicate.

The band is the brainchild of Providence, RI’s artist/photographer Sina Sohrab, and over the course of this EPs short19 minutes your transplanted backwrads and forawds from nightmare to dream in a wash of synths, noise and fordoding atmosphere. Much like the EP’s name, the closest thing I could equate the experience to is a fever high. Fevers enjoys taking you up and down in it’s short time leaving you curious (or is it anxious) at what’s around the bend.

There’s the dark and ominous thump of opener “Lake Eeire” undercut quickly by the one minute’s it’s sweet, one minute it’s creepy lullaby-like “Young & Fine.” You’re then strapped on a broomstick across “oOchre” into single “Your Beaches” whose pulsing Witch House vocal track ride the creep factor over hyphy drum machine bump. The EP ends by getting somewhat tribal on “Summer Sensation” and it’s reprise “Holy Smokes” both of which loop back to the same sinister innocence of “Young & Fine.”

I’m curious to see where Sina Sohrab takes Dream Boats in a full length after this. While enjoyable, the EP’s scant duration help greatly in not being overwhelmed by so many disparate and blogged about sounds. The potential is evident and I hope Fevers serves as a marvelous exorcism of influences into something greater.

Download Dream Boat – Fevers (Click Here)

- My Pal the Crook