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Apr 13, 2016 Web Exclusive By Dan Lucas

We promise you, this is not a Beach House record. And Sam Sarty, despite her vocals, is not a pseudonym of Victoria Legrand. No, really.

This is not intended as a slight on the Canadian band’s debut LP. As a slice of dreamy psychedelic shoegaze, it’s an album that deserves praise for being not just accomplished and professional, but for being one that genuinely carries gravitas.

Sarty’s effects-laden vocals sweep over you in a thick soupy fog of smoke and whisky. Backed by subtle keys and reverb-laden guitars that shift subtly between choppy, shredded, and a slow, druggy slide—in the case of “Miss Emerald Green,” all in one song—Living Hour is an album that sweeps the listener along on a drowsy wave that creates a sense of pleasant insomnia.

The album moves away from its Beach House influence with the last track, “Feel Shy,” a far more experimental, minimalist track. Living Hour may not be the most original dream pop album you’ll hear even this year, but it’s a solid, eminently listenable debut that teases perhaps greater things to come right at the death. (www.livinghourband.com)

Author rating: 7/10