AT DUSK
The Summer of Promises Kept (AtDuskMusic@aol.com)
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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When last I left At Dusk, I suggested they take their music back to the kitchen for more seasoning. I feared that the coaster they'd sent along with the disc would be the only lasting effect they would have on me. As The Summer of Promises Kept arrived, I wondered if there was any chance that they had indeed hit the spice rack and seasoned what was honestly an ordinary disc.

In a word, promises kept.

The work on The Summer of Promises Kept shows a marked sonic improvement over their earlier self-titled release. The songs are snappier and the recording values are deeper, further developed than before with enough ambiances for a double disc. The echoing effect on "Rain In The House" feels like it was recorded in an old Victorian manor. Pleasantly, "Pain" rolls over instrumentally, clean and assured; it is the best song on The Summer of Promises Kept by a nose over a pocketful of other contenders. At their best, At Dusk is one catchy threesome here, sounding sonically similar to earlier DIY era The Flaming Lips, before the concept of world domination came to them.

With these elements, and the marked ability to assert musically, the prospect of another At Dusk disc is suddenly an inviting one.

[Pick this up at artists.iuma.com.]

© 2003 - Erick Mertz