The White White Lights
Medium Head Boy (Indierect)
Reviewed by Raoul Hernandez, Fri., March 12, 2010
The White White Lights
Medium Head Boy (Indierect)Ascendence big or small always feels somewhat anti-climatic in the face of a debut EP, especially since the Yeah Yeah Yeahs punch of Jenny Gacy's girlie vocal omnipresence and, the post-blues sci-fi licks of guitarist Jonas Wilson (aka Deluxe Peroux) on future's-so-bright opener "Space Invaders" are strictly big league. "Heresy" follows like the other half of a double A-side 45 with an even bigger sound – a main-stage sound – atop which Gacy's candy vocals swirl with peppermint-striped insouciance. Then the White White Lights hit the trifecta, "It's Cold Here in Japan" marching dreamily through Lost in Translation melancholy, Gacy again with a voice (and live stage presence) from a French film – ready for your projection. The second half of Medium Head Boy is then the B-side, "Doctor Doctor," "Evangeline," and "Devil's Son" getting rootsier, moodier, in the heated slide of the first tune, piano syncopated Southern evocation of the second, and even the fun-house frenzy of the last. Full speed ahead, boys – and girl.
