It Looks Sad. – Self Titled EP

Sometimes you don’t need a roadmap to enjoy the sights and sounds around you.  As the blur of lights and colours meld together as you sit in the passenger seat, the world slows down and life just seems that much simpler.  Such is the sonic resonance of Charlotte, NC four-piece dream-pop outfit It Looks Sad.’s self-titled EP. 

Take the carefree pace of Beach Fossils, pair that lethargic, hazy atmosphere with some of the more pointed segments from a Surfer Blood tune and you’re left with four tracks like the surprisingly engaging “Raccoon.”  Coming in a few notches north of lo-fi, shimmering guitars mark Jimmy Turner’s steady, pseudo-monotone vocal performance as he succumbs to the repetitious posing of the question “Am I real?  Are you there?”.  Turner’s yawned vocals serve as a cornerstone of simplicity in this generally less than mid-tempo guitar-dominated outing.  As evidenced in “Fingers,” neither vocals nor guitar compete with one another for airtime.  Repetitious lines wither away at variable moments, intermittently reemerging like a fog sprawled across a hazy valley.

As such, the band sparingly reserves any audible deviations for heightened effect.  Take the emo-flooded late-song anguish of “Ocean” or emotional vocal outpour accompanying the rhythmic percussive march of “Radical.”  Each distinct talking point ensures that each of the EP’s four tracks showcases a different side to It Looks Sad. 

With their self-titled debut, It Looks Sad. showcases a strong foundation featuring a handful of budding tangents worthy of further exploration.  The pleasantries of their dream-pop core leave plenty of room for enjoyment in its current form and ample room for future development.