Permanent Vacation
Bubble Bath, 2019
8/10
A band from New Orleans who are named after a dance from a French book and whose members are native to many places in the world, including Spain and Nicaragua, it should come as no surprise that Biglemoi are not your standard fare indie-rock outfit.
On this, their sophomore EP, the quintet bring their cultured, calculated and eclectic ideas to a listen where you’re as likely to hear anthemic guitars as you are hints of blues and jazz.
“Joyride” starts the EP with a sparse, inviting setting before bursting into a full collage of charged riffs and a driving rhythm section, and “Sola” follows and leads with ambience before the gentle, cultured, unplugged environment that bares the most resemblance to their Big Easy home.
The rest of the listen is just as diverse, and offers the subdued and vocally expressive “Permanent Vacation”, as well as the louder, multifaceted rock and strong riffs of “Decipher”. The dreamy, spacey yet still very organic “Other Side” ends the affair with synth fueled balladry in an example of inventive musicianship.
Though each tune here sounds different, the EP flows well with creative, engaging song craft that hardly sounds like it comes from a band with under a dozen tunes in their catalog. Let’s hope that an album is on the horizon, as the world is much better off with more Biglemoi to take in.
Travels well with: Radiohead- In Rainbows; Blonde Redhead- Misery Is A Butterfly