The Defog
Sounds From The Stars (2004)

Review by: Craig Curtice
Date: 4/1/04

Sounds From The Stars is a neatly produced demo by The Defog, a Philadelphia based group of musicians that formed in 1997, and although there's less than fifteen minutes of music to sample, what's here is comfortably intelligent and curiously appealing.

Slightly electronic, “Downstream” is a poppy combination of Wilco and the semi-obscure Brit band Talk Talk, while “Calibrated” brews the indie-emo sensibility of Failure with synth hooks once perfected decades ago by The Cars. Strangely enough I also sense a subtle Boston “Foreplay/Longtime” influence on “Asterisk,” but it actually sounds like The White Stripes if they were a full jazz combo. I imagine this music should satisfy college grads with clean Volkswagens that sport Jimmy Fallon-styled haircuts.

Lastly, based on the press photos enclosed with the disc, The Defog look like four decent and upstanding young white men, and in my humble estimation there is certainly no cosmic shame in these fellas continuing to play music professionally.