The Lavender Scare drop new Sinlge

Los Angeles’ The Lavender Scare opens their new single “Sermonettes” with a steady build of drums and a growing swell of electric guitar feedback. The five minutes and change long track soon establishes a straight-forward mid tempo groove pushed forward by the drumming with right amount of urgency, no more no less, and a jangling rhythm guitar track crackling with light distortion. The performance has a somewhat downcast vibe; The Lavender Scare, without question, want to provide an entertaining musical experience for their listeners, but they also look to challenge them as well and “Sermonettes” is well in keeping with that dual mission.

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Vocalist James Delos Reyes underlines the seriousness of their intent with lower register vocals embracing dramatics while still hewing to a low-key demeanor. “Sermonettes” is a song that never runs off the rails; The Lavender Scare is careful to modulate their approach at every turn and it gives the performance a considered thrust seldom achieved by lesser bands. The vocal delivery isn’t always clear, rendering some of the lyrical content questionable, but what listeners can discern offers an even clearer indication of the intelligence shaping the band’s artistic aesthetic.

There is electronic color woven into the fabric of the arrangement but, once again, restraint is a key aspect of the band’s approach. The duo is willing and able to make use of a wide variety of sounds to achieve their desired effects but, at the end of the day, The Lavender Scare is a band built around vocals and guitar. The aforementioned rhythm guitar gives the track a consistent shape throughout its entirety, but The Lavender Scare successfully incorporate an assortment of lead guitar lines into the mix deepening the track’s texture and coloring its mood.

The latter portions of the song darken its demeanor. The grain of the performance becomes rougher than before and there’s a claustrophobic sense of the song closing in around you. It is never oppressive, per se, but it is a decided shift from the comparatively airy design of the song’s opening and middle. Vocal harmonies are part of the song’s second half, as well, but never omnipresent. The Lavender Scare show with “Sermonettes” they are a rock act primarily and they have the growing command of dynamics that the style demands of its practitioners.

This duo based out of Los Angeles’ Echo Park region has attracted a respectable following in a short amount of time and there’s nothing about “Sermonettes” that augers their momentum will soon dissipate. Existing fans of the band will find themselves solidly supportive of this release and it has the needed allure to draw new fans into the fold. The Lavender Scare are one of the best young indie bands playing guitar-oriented music working today and “Sermonettes” demonstrates they are only scratching the surface of their considerable talents. There will be more to come, for sure, that builds off the promise and quality heard with this new single release and their fan base will only continue to grow.

Nicole Killian