Zelienople

Veterans of the sprawling Chicago music scene, Zelienople have carved out a unique sound over their album releases. The World is a House on Fire is the latest chapter in the band's story, and frames their music more succinctly than ever before. Mike Weis (percussion), Matt Christensen (vocals, guitar) and Brian Harding (bass, saxophone) managed to perfect brooding, melancholy doom-pop on their last full-length Give it Up (TYPE 054CD), and this latest LP finds the band in a more evocative mood. The trio have utilized dream-pop tropes before, but in the first bars of opener "The Southern," there is no doubt that the haunted Americana of the band's previous recordings has been swathed in a haze of drifting synthesizer tones and echoing organ drones (played by occasional member Donn Ha). The simplistic beauty of Slowdive and early Verve is distilled to a vapor as it drifts into Christensen's characteristic vocals and Weis' soft, subtle percussion. This isn't pop music, but the skeletons of pop are just about audible, enshrined in something far more beautiful and much more delicate. The World is a House on Fire is a blissful and utterly enveloping addition to the Zelienople canon, and while it might be more subtle than their previous records, it stays with you longer than you might expect. "Haunting" doesn't even begin to describe it. Limited vinyl pressing of 700 copies, cut at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin.