Estrangers: Black ballroom (2011)

El debut de estos chicos de Winston-Salem llamados Estrangers (nada que ver con los extintos Stranglers), es algo así como una fusión del sonido Pop de The Love Language unido al Folk-Pop de Bon Iver o Fleet Foxes. Un breve álbum (apenas media hora) en el que no vas a encontrar nada exactamente novedoso, pero sí una serie de temas capaz de animar los espíritus de cualquiera a esas primeras horas de la mañana en las que tan difícil es hacerlo (L´Aventura, New year´s eve, White flowers -la mejor del disco-, Tell her no thanks…). Un disco sin ninguna estridencia pero también sin ningún altibajo dentro de su estilo. Recomendable. Disponible en su Bandcamp.

Estrangers – Black ballroom (2011)

“Through driving instrumentation and sweet melodies, Winston-Salem’s Estrangers presents a refined and occasionally tumultuous take on pop music on its debut album Black Ballroom. Although familiar, the band makes its sound personal with a swirl of whimsical layers.
Between the multiple layers of guitar and keyboard, the songs on Black Ballroom are engulfed in a cloud of infectious hazy pop. And with frontman Philip Pledger’s honest lyrics recalling hometowns, past relationships and memories, the album is easily accessible to listeners.
In many ways the sextet channels the same lo-fi pop made prominent by fellow North Carolinians The Love Language, but the band’s energy and experience is its own. Each song feels relatively personal and the band focuses on developing each layer without being too saccharine.
Songs “Tell Her No Thanks” and “L’Avventura” are fast foot-stomping ditties that combine the best of Estrangers’ musical layers, through energetic drumming and chaotic keys. As Pledger’s vocals break through the menagerie of instruments, these bouncy songs develop as dynamic standouts.
Black Ballroom starts and fades quickly, clocking in at just under half an hour. Its brevity is refreshing, but its main drawback is the parallels it draws to its influences. It’s not that the album isn’t original, but that it lacks in developing its own breed of originality.
For Estrangers, there is no doubt that the energy and the potential is there. Black Ballroom is a solid debut; perhaps all that is needed is a little more exploration in order to carve out a sound that is distinctly its own” (dailytarhell.com)

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