White Moth – The Depreciation Guild White Moth – The Depreciation Guild (Buy)

Spirit Youth, the 2010 full length from The Depreciation Guild is a mash up of a whole lot of great musical ingredients. The catchy synth in the opening track My Chariot may make a listener think Passion Pit hookyness is being cooked up, or an MGMT dance hit is simmering. But what makes this album superb is that The Depreciation Guild’s songs employ so many great music techniques in a distinct combination they can call their own.

The band was founded by Kurt Feldman and Christoph Hochheim. Feldman later went on to become the drummer of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. This is worth mentioning because the aesthetic The Pains deliver shows face on Spirit Youth. Reverb soaked whispered vocals leading deliberate drums and moody guitars all achieve an ethereal soundscape.

A clever use of electronic drum machines is one of the stand-out aspects of this album. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t the next Kid A, but the percussion on this album delivers a healthy share of originality to the overall delivery of the tunes. Dream About Me, and A Key Turns are particularly refreshing for this reason.

One thing may leave the listener feeling a little cheated is the inaudible lyrics on this album. Though the vocals are pleasing and contribute to the aesthetic greatly, I struggled to figure out what the hell the guy was talking about. In truth, I never put a much emphasis on lyrics, but to some this may be a pitfall.

Spirit Youth is an enjoyable album that has a focused motif. If you like the first two songs, chances are you’ll like the next eight. You can take that one of two ways. The first is that the album is strong throughout; the second is that the album doesn’t take many chances. Taking both these conclusions into consideration, I give Spirit Youth an 8.4.