8 CHVRCHES - The Bones of What You Believe
[Click here for Soundtrack]

I stumbled into The Independent in San Francisco on the tail end of a Sunday-funday 30th birthday celebraish to see Chvrches (pronounced "churches," fyi.) They were sporting one single thus far, "The Mother We Share," that i'd heard in late 2012 and were about to drop an EP. In a drunken haze, I danced my ass off, but left un-inspired by lead singer Lauren Mayberry's stage presence. There was something so sterile about her up there. This was the voice of an angel, no doubt, but she didn't seem totally comfortable. Naturally, this experience made me leery of the upcoming release of The Bones of What You Believe in September. But as I got to know the band's ins & outs and more importantly, got into this album, I realized why she might've been so nervous 6 months prior. Thus our story begins...Chvrches hail from Scotland. A country that has a strong local indie scene, but rests its laurels on the shoulders of bands like Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian on a global scale. One could say that there aren't THAT many significant Scottish bands at the top of the music biz. I don't normally base too many of my conclusions from Pitchfork reviews and I certainly don't mention them in my posts, but I HAVE to break my fast just this once. Because Larry Fitzmaurice painted a picture of a band who had a Scottish indie brain-trust of sorts seeing them through to stardom on this album. It helped me to understand why Mayberry could've been nervous that night in March, their first playing in the US. Could it be that there is a weight on their shoulders of NATIONAL proportions? It makes me think about this band's role in respective music scenes and what this album's success truly represents

Enough talk. Take a song like "Gun," their third single off the album. It opens with stunning effects and Iain Cook's electrifying bass guitar that strums throughout the song. Martin Doherty's loops are so intricate and our muse opens with:You had better run from me
With everything you own
Cause I am gonna come for you
With all that I haveShe's petite and pretty, but opens up with the most subtle threat. It'll make any male fever up with curiosity & desire and any female quickly jump on board with her vicious empowerment. She builds into the chorus and explodes with:Hide, hide, I have burned your bridges
Now I'll be a gun
And it's you I'll come for
Hide, hide, have never felt so easy
I will be a gun"Gun" is the perfect microcosm for everything that's brilliant about this band. They spare no details or effects and seemingly take the long way around to a climax that's so reminiscent of progressive electronic music in the late 90's and early 00's. This is "build-up and drop you into blissful motion" musicThey master the intricacies of drum beats and varying effects. Amazingly, every song is unique. From the buzzing spirits in "We Sink" to the calculated chamber aura of "Lies" and the whole time, Mayberry is at the forefront with a stoic delivery of deliciously scathing lines like:I can sell you lies
You can't get enough
Make a true believer of
Anyone, anyone, anyone

I can call you up
If I feel alone
I can feed your dirty mind
Like I know, Like I know what you wantWoo! Damn girl...This is such a session album. If you wanna get jacked up before going out, put this shit on. If you wanna let off some steam with your headphones on, pick any fucking song. Seriously. There's so much cross-gender appeal here that they really are set up to please everyone without having to play it safe. They're even sure to inspire the hip-hop heads with a beat on "Lungs" reminiscent of some cross between Purity Ring and Yeezus' electro beatsThis is a revolutionary sound. This is the sound that countless electro pop bands try to achieve, but end up in the massive lump of party music for white poeple to try to dance to. Not Chvrches though. What they're bringing to the table is refined. It's precision electro, with an INCREDIBLE singer. The kind of voice that makes me weak in the knees. It's mastery of a synth pop sound that has too frequently been attempted, only to be left flat on its ass. Weight of Scotland and all, this band is delivering on multiple levels and as expected, Mayberry is even coming into her own on stage
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#7 is due up tomorrow!