For Tea, Sympathy, and a Sofa by Lisan Al-Gaib (Review)

This is a demo that appeals to anyone who’s into the darkwave stylings of the Projekt label. Lisan Al-Gaib is the duo of Pearson Greer and Joel Bordeaux, and For Tea, Sympathy, and a Sofa is their second release. While not necessarily ground-breaking in any way, Lisan Al-Gaib do manage to create some pretty good dark, atmospheric music.

The tape opens up with “End What We Have Resolved,” a really fuzzy Flying Saucer Attack-ish number with extremely deep, goth male vocals. However, I’m not sure if I’m hearing tape hiss and noise, or the band’s music. The relatively low quality of the recording surfaces throughout the entire tape, which is a real letdown. It’s sometimes quite hard to make out the vocals or the music clearly, so I kind of feel like this review might be a little sketchy. The second track is more ambient and airy then the first. Swirling and sparkling synth sounds create a nice foundation for the vocals, which are slightly less deep then on the first track.

The second side opens up with what’s probably my favorite track on the tape, “A Votre Sante.” Again, there are dark synth-sounds swirling about, but they’re joined by a ghostly flute. Joel’s vocals appear again, this time lower in the mix. This is a track I would really like to hear on a better recording. The final track, “Cosmosis,” sounds like some of The Cure’s Seventeen Seconds. The bass and guitar sound just like those early 80s recordings, which is kind of nostalgic I guess.

This group seems to have it together, and hopefully they’ll release a better recorded tape sometime soon. I hope these guys continue to develop their sound. Sometimes I feel like bands of this type just seem to dwell on who can be as dark and mopey as possible. That’s a danger that I hope this group avoids. If you’re at all into the darkwave scene, you might want to keep an eye out on these guys.