The Loop : DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs

DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs (2005)

It's been a rainy day in New York, after several days of unseasonably warm weather. As Winter is well upon us, it seemed only logical that I b-line to some Bon Iver on my iPod this morning. However, in thinking about it, I felt that was almost TOO emo, even for me, so I opted for another less "three months of isolation" kind of album, Justin Vernon's first band, DeYarmond Edison.

I'd say in the year and a half or so that I worked at Epic, about 80% of my music came from my officemate Rob. We'd often have speaker battles, his winning against my tiny computer speakers. We had been obsessed with Bon Iver after the buzz grew around his album For Emma, Forever Ago. We knew the circumstances of that album : dude breaks up with girlfriend AND band, and then gets really sick and runs away to Wisconsin to write this unbelivable album. However, it never really occured to either of us to check out the band he had broken up with. Finally, after doing some Wikipedia research we found out that they were called DeYarmond Edison and hey! their album was on iTunes.

I picked it up soon after and I'll go out on a limb and say it : I almost like it better than Bon Iver. Please, Pitchfork, let me explain. It's very clear in listening to Silent Signs the kind of tone that Justin would eventually take with Bon Iver. Obviously there were more components here, namely more ego with three other band members, but there is a distinct sound that I don't think could exist with him at the helm. That being said, for those of you familiar with Bon Iver, Justin actually sings in a lower register. A MUCH lower register. He is fairly well known now for his dreamy falsetto that became characteristic of Bon Iver, but here he sings in a husky, warm folk tone.

Along with the vocals, this is just an overall smart record. The melodies are infectious and the sound, as with Vernon's vocals, is warm and inviting. This record seems to carry another theme of winter, with lyrics like "I warm my cold November hands under your thighs to stop my shivers." It's remarkably intune with nature and has a very distictive North Carolina sound, which is ironic since all of the members were Wisconsin transplants in NC. Songs like "Heroin(e)", "Bones" and "Heart for Hire" so so brilliantly written, it's a wonder that the band broke up.

As of now, though, they are still friends, with the remaining members starting their own group called Megafaun, who I accidentally saw open for Bowerbirds in July (and whose members sometimes play in Bowerbirds. Oh North Carolina, you all are precious) who is equally good. They went on Bon Iver for this last run of dates where they played a cover song together. Bon Iver announced an indefinite hiatus from touring and secretly (or not so secretly) I sort of hope that maybe creatively this group can meet in the middle and produce another really great record like this one. In my bearded dreams . . .

Sadly, this band existed before it was cool to YouTube, so this was all I could find. It's either this or a bunch of dudes in dorms covering them, so this will have to do. Two amazing tunes.