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Concert Mon Aug 27 2007
Terra Diablo
After becoming a household name in the UK, the Scottish quartet Terra Diablo is now on tour in the U.S., hoping to make similar strides here. Touting their second album, Deluge Songs (due out September 18th on Nocturnal Records via RED/Sony), the band is already popular. Just two weeks into their tour, the song “Setting Suns” has placed at number 17 in the U.S. singles charts.
Formed in 2000, by four mates in Glasgow who met through work (a music store, no less) and school, Terra Diablo went from being just another local band, to being on the verge of making a dent in the notoriously tough U.S. market. Perhaps what can help the band in this endeavor, i.e. success in the U.S., is that Evanescence producer Jeremy Parker mixed the album. Also, the band’s current label is based in New Orleans. What also helps of course is the music itself.
Deluge Songs is a hybrid album, containing elements of post-Nirvana alt-rock as well as the shoegazer style -- a healthy abundance of droning guitars, super-loudness and instrumentation that melds together. The music is also twofold in another manner: it’s one part accessible to the mainstream, and yet contains enough individualism for discerning indie rock fans. It’s no surprise that “Setting Suns” -- which contains the familiar, Kurt Cobain-influenced visceral urgency -- is doing well on the charts. Yet there is other, less commercially inclined songs worthy of listening. Take the song “Quiet,” which is the opposite of being noiseless. Unfettered and emotionally fluid, the song is sweetly melodic yet abrasive and upbeat at the same time. “Walked Away,” with even more lush harmonies, is another pick for the indie crowd. Perhaps what is most striking about Deluge is the juxtaposition between an irreverent, optimistic aggressiveness and a yearning dreaminess.
Listen to a live session of Terra Diablo tonight, on Q101 and catch them live on Tuesday night at the Elbo Room. $5. 8:30 pm
