Singles in advance of Cymbals Eat Guitars’ imminent new release – recorded locally at Dreamland with super-producer John Agnello – suggest that the shimmering, dynamic New York City indie guitar-rock band have in mind a move from the art toward the pop. Joseph D’Agostino’s somewhat mousy vocals are way up in the mix compared to 2011’s excellent Alien Lenses, and his delivery itself is more committed and character-full. The epic forms and frequent tempo and mood shifts are mostly absent, and the guitars have moved over to make room for more layered and synth-populous arrangements, dense with heroic and referential sounds and high-drama gesture.
It’s a natural progression. Cymbals Eat Guitars sound as delicately tuneful and emotionally dynamic as ever – just a little more aesthetically purposeful and a little more interested in bigger stages.
Well, BSP isn’t one of those, but Cymbals Eat Guitars will be rocking it anyway, with Dead Gaze opening, on Thursday, August 21 at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $10 in advance, $12 the day of the show. Tickets are available at Jack’s Rhythms in New Paltz, Outdated in Kingston, Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie and the Woodstock Music Shop. BSP is located at 323 Wall Street in Kingston. For more information, visit www.bspkingston.com.