Album Reviews

Members have come and gone, and so has the identity of a once dirty-ish rock act. In seeking out a new sound, Earlimart has stumbled a bit en route—but only with gaining a due audience—which is unfortunate. Last year's Mentor Tormentor was a widely overlooked, indie pop-rock gem, and Hymn and Her continues the more lush orchestration that their last few efforts have spawned.

Earlimart is starting to head down an interesting path: Hymn and Her sounds a lot like a lost '90s alt-rock outtake, in the vein of older bands like Luna, Madder Rose and Belly. Those acts didn't get any full-time respect, and maybe there's something about making well crafted dream-pop that people can't catch on to. Hymn and Her fluctuates between the upbeat, building piano-pop of tunes like "For The Birds" and "God Loves You Best," to more slow, weird numbers like the ethereal, string-lined "Tell Me." Lead Earlimarter Aaron Espinoza seems much more assertive this time around, in a sort of refund-demanding forcefulness on opener "Song For" as well as "Cigarettes and Kerosene." Maybe that sort of confidence has been lacking?

So, still, there's nothing that flashy about Earlimart. Nothing that's "in your face," or raw-sounding. They don't rely on fancy tricks, forced song structures or anything- just the idea that you if you can write good melodies, an occasional hook, and utilize a female backing voice at just the right time, you can make a quality record. Hymn and Her does just that.

—Mike Ayers
07.03.08