Red Leaves

By Road or Rail

On third release By Road or Rail, local trio Red Leaves has ended up in the unusual position of writing beyond its ability to interpret. Its music, melancholy and subdued yet paradoxically energetic, displays a flair for the shades of intensity and harmonic structure available within the constraints of pop. In fact, the songs here are quite subtle overall. The problem is they aren’t played with much subtlety. David Lujan and Singer Mayberry’s vocals are consistently full-voiced regardless of the context; drummer Rich Cali, God love him, is a solid basher in the place of a competent nerd. There are times when the elements support the song, as in the dark, hypnotic “King of the Birds,” a Pinback-level exercise in volume manipulation and a damn fine track. The gentle bonus track also fares well. In general, however, this band needs to do better by its compositions.

**

This article appears in November 7 • 2008.

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