School of Seven Bells

School of Seven Bells (aka SVIIB) got their name from some PBS program about some "mythical South American pick-pocket academy", as mentioned on their their interview/music session on KCRW (incidentally, check out KCRW's vox page). Although Alejandra have admitted to not being able to verify the name, I can tell you that the so-called school is from the Andes Mountains outside Bogota, Colombia.

I am assuming that the Andes Mountain shown in the PBS program might have inspired the naming of their debut album, Alpinisms (the term refers to the European mountain range, often called the Alps). Strangely, however, the cover artwork by Bryan Collins, well, it looks like it was pulled from a picture of Yosemite National Park's famous Half Dome.

The band consists of two real life twin sisters called Alejandra and Claudia Deheza and bassist Benjamin Curtis, formerly (?) of Secret Machines. The band was formed in early 2007, and they are bringing back an old familiar sound of electronica, mixed with a little shoegazing/dreampop - mostly because of the harmonies of the two sisters.

I think grouping the band into the shoegazing category might not describe them, these aren't really sad/depressing songs (with the exception of the slow-moving song, "For Kalaja Mari"). Instead, surprisingly, the album is pretty upbeat, thanks to noisy sounds and quirky keyboard and sound effects. It's like half dance and half awkwardness (because they're not like typical dance rhythm).

My favorite songs on the album is "Wired for Light", a strange violin-ish scratch sound and afro percussions made this song stand out. Obviously, "Half Asleep" is big hit for them. It's pretty melodic and poppy, I can see why they chose this song to release as the single.

My absolute favorite is "Chain", however. Which I'm sure most people won't like for its use of vocal-correction effects. I think it fits the song, especially with the various samples (or at least I think they're samples), and overall gives it a dancey vibe to it. "Chain" should be a real crowd pleaser if they play it live.

And speaking of live, be sure to check them out on tour this year, see the two handsome sisters for yourself, as they play with some other indie-favorites such as Fujiya & Miyagi and Bat for Lashes.

Fans of 4AD, Movaje 3, Cocteau Twins (wow, will someone please do an article on them?), Au Revoir Simone, and Blonde Redhead, will immediately fall in love with SVIIB (if you haven't already). So pick up their wonderful album, Alpinisms, at any online retailer or their record label, Ghostly (where you'll find some EPs for sale as well).