“Guitar music is dead”, or so they tell me. I can’t say I blame all the doubters who were fatigued by the oversaturation of garage bands at the turn of the century, or even the short lived British fascination with Gang of Four style minimalism. Betting against the house and what is unquestionably the quintessential sound of popular music since the 50’s makes sense on paper – it has been almost completely erased from the mainstream FM dial. The Washington Post even went so far as to declare the electric guitar dead this past summer, and they have the numbers to back up the claim. If I had a dollar for every naysayer who decried the end of guitar-based music, I could afford to buy all of the guitar-heavy records on my Best Of list. And near the top of that list is this fine offering from Jersey City’s Overlake.
Following up on 2014’s lush Sighs, Fall sees Overlake expanding their sound in a way that evokes shoegaze and dream pop stalwarts like Slowdive and Ride but pushes the boundaries of those genres into unchartered territories. Fall walks an incredibly fine line, combining the lush tones of reverb soaked guitar with a driving rhythm section and ethereal vocals. Tom Barret’s Jazzmaster ebbs and flows through these eight tracks, building a wall of sound that is both dense and delicate, swaying over the steady and unyielding foundation created by Lysa Opfer and Nick D’Amore. From the pounding rhythms of “Winter Is Why” to the slow burning embers of “Pines On A Beach”, Fall combines beauty and power together in a compelling and immersive sound. It’s a reminder that in the right hands, the electric guitar is still a force to be reckoned with.