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 Post subject: AllMusic.com ReviewPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2003 5:05 pm 
Ok, gang. I've been lurking over Allmusic.com for a while waiting for them to get an Eisley bio and Laughing City review up. For the past couple of weeks they just had their name, album and tracklisting... so aparently they updated and got it all together. heres the review Quote: Though they have musical ties to emo and indie rock, Eisley's debut EP, Laughing City, reveals that the Texas-based quintet's true musical heritage lies in the dreamy, largely female guitar pop of the early '90s. The sweet, wavering vocals of sisters Sherri and Stacy DuPree recall not only the Innocence Mission's Karen Peris and Sixpence None the Richer's Leigh Nash, but especially those of Belly and Throwing Muses' Tanya Donelly, a similarity heightened by the kind of songs Eisley writes. The brooding "Telescope Eyes," one of the group's more rock-oriented songs, sounds like it could fit easily on Belly's King or on one of Donelly's solo albums; "Tree Tops," with its whimsical music-box melody and waltz rhythm, recalls the playful creativity of songs like "Feed the Tree." That's not to suggest that the band doesn't have their own musical identity, however, as swooning ballads like "Over the Mountains" and the title track suggest that by the time Eisley releases a full-length, they'll be writing even more intricately distinctive songs. While the EP's production sounds a little slick at times, especially for the band's ethereal-rock sound, Laughing City is still a promising and unique debut. — Heather Phares personally, i was a little dissapointed. Allmusic usually gives great reviews. This one isn't exactly "bad", but the comparisons to all the chick jangle pop of the 90's seems way off base to me. Belly is a good band, but nothing like Eisley. I guess that's the curse of being a girl in rock n roll... your sex becomes your genre and prevents quality comparisons. they also site Belly and Innocense Mission as some of Eisley's influences on the main bio page. couldn't the reviewer have done her homework and gone to the eisley website to find their stated influences... aka: the beatles, coldplay, radiohead. Sixpence is obvious in their vocals and i think mentioned on their site by one or two of the girls, but i've never heard or seen anything that said the group was into Belly or Innocense Mission. maybe i'm wrong. feel free to go to www.allmusic.com , though and give them your feedback about the review. _________________ "hey guys" --Mahatma Ghandi |
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Joined: 26 May 2003 | Posts: 27 | Location: Dallas
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Post subject: Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2003 5:18 pm
one thing i agree with about that (and im sure this has been stated and refuted and qualified time and time again) i think the album was a bit too slick. it sounded great but it lacked some of the raw... energetic... good stuff that eisley gets live. maybe thats natural in the transition from being almost exclisively a performing band to becoming a recording one as well. but yeah. eisley is way better than all those lousy 90's girl bands... eisley is so not a girl band... they are just a band made up of 3/5 girls... thats barely more than half. 
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Joined: 18 Apr 2003 | Posts: 3939 | Location: here
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:35 am
Please go easy on the "lousy 90's girl bands". The first time I heard Eisley I heard a touch of Throwing Muses and that made me want to hear more. Being compared to Belly or Throwing Muses is actually quite a compliment. Tonya Donelly/Kristin Hersh are incredible musicians who both have a long history of great song writing. Also, both Belly and the Muses had/have guys in the band. Check out Tonya's "Beautysleep" disc: http://www.4ad.com/artists/donelly_tanya/player/4ad.html ilitherian wrote: but yeah. eisley is way better than all those lousy 90's girl bands... eisley is so not a girl band... they are just a band made up of 3/5 girls... thats barely more than half. |
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Joined: 21 May 2003 | Posts: 4 | Location: san diego, ca
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 4:21 am
if you didn't see these comparisons coming when they went "public", you've got another thing coming. just wait til the full length. not to say they will be correct... but there will be lots of these comparisons. mostly unfounded. and no matter what it sounds like, they'll get the radiohead comparison. it always happens. because most "reviewers" don't know what the heck they are talking about. some do. not all. or maybe they are just hearing different albums than i am with the same cover art and songs. _________________ rest in my arms sleep in my bed theres a design to what i did and said piccysssssss |
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Joined: 20 Dec 2002 | Posts: 1153 | Location: art hell
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 4:51 am
sosad wrote: Please go easy on the "lousy 90's girl bands". The first time I heard Eisley I heard a touch of Throwing Muses and that made me want to hear more. Being compared to Belly or Throwing Muses is actually quite a compliment. Tonya Donelly/Kristin Hersh are incredible musicians who both have a long history of great song writing.
Also, both Belly and the Muses had/have guys in the band. i never said either of those bands are lowsy... in fact i think they are quite good. what i think is unfortunate is that those bands permeate the allmusic review and bio... I just stated that it seems unfactual to state them as an influence, when the girls don't even site them as an influence (to my knowledge). I also think that, while throwing muses, etc. are good, they are a little more simplistic, and not really in the same category as eisley musically... other than the fact that several of their members all have wombs. (my point... sex = genre) I also said that I think the review was not "bad"... just not how i like it... but hey... that happens a lot to me... Personally, besides local buzz... and maybe things out of the Dallas Observer, etc. I've yet to see a nat'l magazine or paper compare them to Radiohead... i don't think. Personally, i think that would be a welcomed comparison. _________________ "hey guys" --Mahatma Ghandi |
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Joined: 26 May 2003 | Posts: 27 | Location: Dallas
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 1:22 pm
i did... perhaps lousy was a bit harsh... its just eisley is darn original... and although they have their influences and their similarities i don't think comparisons are fair. actually i don't like the comparison game in any form or fashion... i like good old fashioned adjectives like radioheadesque and coldplayish
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Joined: 18 Apr 2003 | Posts: 3939 | Location: here
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:15 pm
I agree with most of that review. The production of the EP is quite wretched. _________________ If ignorance is bliss then whipe that smile off my face |
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Joined: 08 Dec 2002 | Posts: 207 | Location: Wylie, TX
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 3:32 pm
hmmm i didn't think it was wretched i just think it didn't present the band as accurately as it could have. don't get me wrong though i love the cd. love it love it love it. |
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Joined: 18 Apr 2003 | Posts: 3939 | Location: here
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Post subject: Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 8:04 pm
I think that the last two songs on the EP produced by Mike Mogis best captured what i feel to be Eisley's sound. like i believe i stated somewhere else on this board... i feel like the CD makes a progression from a more, almost standard rock feel to the etheral very Eisley-esqueness at the end. i just think it culminates rather nicely and leaves me anticipating the release of an LP and the continuation of that crescendo into this completely original and (steadily becoming) experienced band. _________________ "hey guys" --Mahatma Ghandi |
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Joined: 26 May 2003 | Posts: 27 | Location: Dallas
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Post subject: Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 3:17 pm
InModWeTrust wrote: i feel like the CD makes a progression from a more, almost standard rock feel to the etheral very Eisley-esqueness at the end. I dont care for the new version of Telescope Eyes cause it has that standard rock feel  It feels rushed and it's not a journey anymore.. for me. I mean.. it was 5 minutes and 14 seconds of greatness.. and was chopped down to 3 minutes and 36 seconds. I guess that's why.
The better version (in my opinion) of Telecope Eyes is still on the website under "Songs" if anyone who hasnt heard it before wants to. 
(btw, i just changed my avatar. it used to say "neverland") _________________ "Commit to the Lord whatever you do and your plans will succeed." prov 16:3 |
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Joined: 29 Jan 2003 | Posts: 1907 | Location: cypress, texas
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 7:54 am
one thing i agree with about that (and im sure this has been stated and refuted and qualified time and time again) i think the album was a bit too slick. it sounded great but it lacked some of the raw... energetic... good stuff that eisley gets live. maybe thats natural in the transition from being almost exclisively a performing band to becoming a recording one as well. i completely agree with this comment, I was trying to explain this in another post. I saw them mon in chicago and they sounded so much rawer and better live. The strength of the bassest and drums were not heard like I would have liked. |
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Joined: 11 Jun 2003 | Posts: 2 | Location: chicago
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 11:35 am
uwbrian wrote: i completely agree with this comment, I was trying to explain this in another post. I saw them mon in chicago and they sounded so much rawer and better live. The strength of the bassest and drums were not heard like I would have liked. apparently the drummer and bassist are there only for show, just what i heard anyway so dont quote me. _________________ "A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat which isn't there." - Charles Darwin (legend) |
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Joined: 04 Apr 2003 | Posts: 1296 | Location: Gateshead - good ol' blighty, up north
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 12:50 pm
uwbrian wrote: The strength of the bassest and drums were not heard like I would have liked. It is near impossible to get a really great sounding bass out of protools recording. The sampling rate just isnt high enough to capture those low-end harmonics that add so much depth to the recording. _________________ If ignorance is bliss then whipe that smile off my face |
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Joined: 08 Dec 2002 | Posts: 207 | Location: Wylie, TX
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2003 4:55 pm
I disagree actually. I think it's a wonderfully written review. You first have to notice that Eisley is a young up and coming band. Very few Rock critics have taken them on, and the critics who do end up interviewing them end up doing a report that's like that's barely a paragraph or two long. Or even picture captions. So they have to do comparisons of other bands to get people interested so they can figure out what kind of genre Eisley is. That's why bands tour together: Coldplay and Eisley were a lot alike, so are the Flaming Lips. _________________ "What's with these homies dissing my girl?" - Weezer "I think I know I mean a yes but it's all wrong, that is I think I disagree." - Beatles My Livejournal |
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Joined: 10 Jun 2003 | Posts: 382 | Location: Chicago, Ill
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Laughing City Forum Index -> eisleyBlog -> AllMusic.com Review
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