Taken from recordings of live shows from their reunion tour around 2014, Failure‘s Tree of Stars is a strong and tight capture of the band flattening crowds in Houston and Phoenix with their wall of cosmic shoegaze sound.
“Let It Drip” is the first track on the EP and the first one recorded in Phoenix. Ken Andrews distorted vocals go well with his roaring guitar, and Kellii Scott pretty much puts on a drumming clinic through the whole track. It’s over before you have time to catch your breath.
Greg Edwards‘ bass on “Frogs” (live from Houston) brings to mind a giant version of the titular creature rumbling under the surface of a dark pond upon which a meteor storm (Scott’s drumming) is reflected. The live version of “Sergeant Politeness” (the second Phoenix track) hits with aggressive thuds and extra vigor in Andrews’ vocals. The second track record in Houston is “Heliotropic,” which always has a roaring guitar solo from Andrews, and this version is no exception.
The download version of Tree of Stars comes with a new 2014 version of “Solaris” that is somehow even more deep-space than the original as a result of a slower beat, reverb-drenched vocals, and guitars that sound like they’re being played in Atlantis. The tour-only version had “Come Crashing” on it, which was Failure’s first new music since 1996’s Fantastic Planet and would end up on their 2015 album The Heart Is a Monster.
It’s a great tease of hopefully a full live album in the future.
Keep your mind open.
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