January 18th, 2008
Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION
Falling Off The Lavender Bridge
Domino
***
Two years ago, Devonte Hynes was making big noises with Test Icicles. When the band finally disbanded he made a confession: that he never wanted to be an art rocker, and that his heart belonged to folk and country. With his new project Lightspeed Champion (named for a comic strip character he created in school), he finally gets to scratch that musical itch. It’s a revelation to see him effortlessly morph from pop punk stylist into a troubadour. Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is heavy on ballads, but any lovey dovey tendencies are countered with humour and arch commentary. Saddle Creek’s Mike Mogis produced the record in Omaha backed by various members of Bright Eyes and Tilly and the Wall, which helps explain ‘Galaxy of the Lost’’s anti-folk perfection and hazy opus of closer ‘Midnight Surprise’.
Download Tracks: ‘Galaxy of the Lost’. ‘Midnight Sunrise’.
Website: Domino Records
Lightspeed Champion
This review originally appeared here, in The Ticket, The Irish Times on Friday, January 18th, 2008
January 17th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
I saw him support Bright Eyes in Paris. He was great, and really, very engaging. At one stage, he said: “shit, I’m off key - not that you noticed,” one of the most honest things I’ve heard a performer say on stage. Bright Eyes were pretty poor. So, during the Bright Eyes set, I left for the bar, where Devonte sat perched over a beer. Pretty drunk already, I said hello. He must have been delighted to have found somebody who spoke English, because he said hello back, asked me my name and then we talked for about 20 minutes. Nice guy.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I loved Test Icicles. DEVastated when they broke up.