Schvendes - Turn Out YourLights

Wed 4th May, 2005 in Music Reviews

I’m sure everyone’s sick of the “there’s been a lot of great releases out of Perth in recent years” line, so I’ll get it out of the way immediately. There’s been a lot of great releases out of Perth in recent years, and Turn Out Your Lights by art-rock sextet Schvendes is no exception.

Following Schvendes’ debut LP Outcast, Turn Out Your Lights has a dark, edgy sound drawing from a huge range of influences. On first listen, the title track is the standout, with its angsty vocals complementing the smooth cello sounds and the chorus’ splash, but after further listening Turn Out Your Lights appears to be one of those EPs on which every track shows promise.

The main object of most criticsm directed toward Schvendes is the distinct vocal style of singer Rachael Dease. It won’t take you long to decide whether it’s your thing or not – fans of PJ Harvey’s earlier material won’t have any problems, but if you picked this release up by mistake, thinking you were getting Interpol’s Turn On the Bright Lights (along with the title, the cover artwork smells suspiciously like that of the New Yorkers’ debut LP) you might be in for a little shock.

After two or three spins, Dease’s vocals prove to be an acquired taste, and sit well alongside, nay, inside the music. The more you listen to this EP, the more you notice about the arrangements of each of the songs; while Turn Out Your Lights doesn’t quite capture the atmosphere of Schvendes live, headphones and a dark room will do wonders for your relationship with this disc. You’ll pick out the more subtle touches like the slide guitar on She’s Waiting, the gentle tapping of ivories in You Spin Me (yes, a Dead or Alive cover), as well as the occasional breath from Dease before or after a line.

While the mood of almost everything on Turn Out Your Lights is dark and brooding, You Spin Me is a moment of comic relief. Surprisingly, it hardly sounds out of place on the EP, though once you realise what you’re listening to, you can’t help but have a chuckle.

It wouldn’t be hard for Turn Out Your Lights to run out of steam after You Spin Me, with such a high standard set by the EP’s first four tracks, but to the band’s credit, the latter stages of this release manage to maintain the momentum and round it off superbly. Though Lullably is probably the weakest track of the EP, it is hardly a poor effort – its less-is-more approach offers a break from the general trend, and leads into closing track Small Anthem perfectly.

Considering Schvendes are a relatively new band, Turn Out Your Lights is a remarkably mature and well-produced release. With increasing interest in the band, both live and on record, one gets the feeling that Turn Out Your Lights will be the release that breaks Schvendes onto the national scene.