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Letting Up Despite Great Faults: Letting Up Despite Great Faults [Album Review]

Letting Up Despite Great Faults

The name Letting Up Despite Great Faults stems from Blonde Redhead’s “Loved Despite Great Faults” off Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons. They often gets comparisons to The Postal Service, but I just don’t see it. Sure, it’s electronic pop at its best (a bit of a similarity) and there are occasionally some Tamborello-esque beats, but Letting Up Despite Great Faults isn’t nearly as clean nor does it possess those cut-and-dry vocals signature to Gibbard. The primary similarity is the band’s ability to create dreamy electronic indie pop tunes with a romantic edge. It’s a similarity in theme at best.

But there’s another integral commonality: both Give Up and Letting Up are phenomenal albums. “In Steps” is an obvious favorite, introducing Letting Up Despite Great Faults with spacey electro-pop and one damn great melody.

Equally as fascinating is “The Colors Aren’t You Or Me”, a song that has more relation to the Swedish band The Radio Dept. circa their Lesser Matters heyday. In fact, much of the album seems to be influenced by the likes of Lesser Matters; it features fuzzy electrics and vocals that flip between mopey and lovey.

“Our Younger Noise” capitalizes on male/female vocal harmonies. “Pause” converts these sounds into a shoegaze-y atmospheric haze; earlier songs have possessed a hint of this but not until now does it come to full fruition.

This is an album for those who lamented The Radio Dept’s recent stray from their fuzzy electro-pop beginnings into something a bit cleaner and danceable, as well as for those who continue to love everything by that band yet fully cherish their early days as well (I fall into the latter camp).

Letting Up Despite Great Faults picked up right where Pet Grief left off. The band knows how to craft the ideal electro-pop track and they do so in a manner that will help keep you warm as these winter nights hit freezing temperatures.

Find Letting Up Despite Great Faults on Bandcamp.

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[CD, 2009]

1. In Steps
2. Folding Under Stories Told
3. The Colors Aren’t You Or Me
4. Our Younger Noise
5. Pause
6. So Fast: You
7. Photograph Shakes
8. Sun Drips
9. Release

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