When does death trump love? On the seventh album by American rock band Circa Survive, that’s where.
The Philadelphia quintet, which recently went on an indefinite hiatus, have released two EPs over the past year or so — 2021′s A Dream About Love and 2022′s A Dream About Death.
The Anthony Green-led troupe have spent their 18-year-long career dabbling in various genres, so it comes as no surprise that Two Dreams — which sees both EPs combined into one neat package – is a sprawling and occasionally untethered collection.
Green’s unusual vocals set the tone for a patchy collection, although it’s clear that the second half — A Dream About Death — is stronger than the first, which slides untidily into both proggy electronic rock (Our Last Shot) and dated 1990s indie (Drift), while the acoustic flutter of Gone for Good is just plain dreadful.
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The drum machine skitter and burble of keyboards on Sleep Well salvages something from the wreckage and is one of several tracks, including Electric Moose, that comes off as an attempt at The Mars Volta’s experimental prog rock.
On Latenap, the zippy electronic ping is almost pleasant enough to forgive lyrics such as “As the flames grow round your feet/ And there’s nothing we can do/ Drift away and wait for me/ And know I’ll wait for you.”
It seems there’s a good reason why Circa Survive never made it on this side of the Atlantic. circasurvive.com
