ILL EASE
Circle Line Tours (Smilex)
Reviewed by Holly Day

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Ill Ease is a discordant musical lurch through unsettling stories about being high, road trips, and disillusionment. It's just beautiful. The unidentified female lead singer croons her way through these pieces like she's talking in her sleep and saying things she's not supposed to be saying, all against a backdrop of music that just defies categorization-it's Blues Explosion, it's Fugazi, it's all the good stuff about emo but not overindulgent and "why me" depressing, combining killer, out-of-tune guitar licks and brooding bass lines with soft whispering vocals and unexpected tape loops.

[Smilex/P.O. Box 3662/Los Angeles, CA 90078 or Swampy Records/2 East Broadway, 4th Floor/New York, NY 10038]

© 2001 - Holly Day