March 2017, I decided one Saturday to start watching a sitcom, the name of this sitcom
was Cheers. Initially what started out as a hungover impulse turned into a effort to finish an
entire series of a TV show spanned over months ; call it dedication, call it stubbornness, call it
me just wanting to be able to annoy my friends and roommates with the Cheers theme song
every third of an hour. There’s 9 seasons of Cheers, which I believe to be 5 too many, but that’s
a thesis for a different day, anywho you all get the jist, man runs bar, characters revolve around
bar, love interests/hijinks ensue, and amazing outfits for all characters involved (thank you
costume designers of this show holy hell). It’s everything we’ve ever seen before (stellar outfits
aside) in anyplace we’ve ever been in. In the beginning I didn’t know why I was continuing to
watch Cheers but by the time I got to the end I realized the feeling motivating me was that of
weightless comfort.
Orchid Mantis is a dream-pop group hailing from the holy state of Georgia, the birthplace
of creatives such as Deerhunter, R.E.M., and The B-52’s, to name a few. Their most recent
effort Yellow House, released November, 2018 through Z-Tapes (Slovakia), an absolute
workhorse of a label constantly pushing cassettes of amazing artists, is a tremendous album
that comes right off the heels of their previous effort, Kulla Sunset. I’ve had this lil ‘ol album here
on repeat for the past week and it keeps bringing me to new realms. Right off the bat “lanterns”
creates an environment built to lull you into your own head and think about that one dream...you
know the one I’m talking about...you’re falling from the highest realm of reality, ten times the
speed of light, and right before you crash to earth you float softly into your bed. O.K. so I might
be the only who has that dream, but in any case this is an album that immediately took me to
the most fearful yet comforting feeling I had.
Yellow House is 3AM loneliness, it’s 6AM sunrise bliss, it’s those feelings smashed
together to create a timeless plane of emotion where you can see your life on a grid and just be
happy you exist. The vocals throughout are placed so appropriately in the mix, subtle, inviting,
very much like Aaron Maine of Porches. Track by track you’re welcomed into a different, yet
familiar environment. You know you’ve been there before, but can’t remember if it’s real or deja
vu, but in the end who cares it feels good. This is the type of nostalgia we search for in
conversations with friends or looking through photos, but even that feels forced sometimes.
Mixing the bounce and groove of Boards of Canada (re: Campfire Headphase), and the soft
earnestness of Duster, Orchid Mantis have succeeded in creating a transcendental album of
weightless comfort. Good thing it only took them 12 tracks clocking in around 40 minutes
instead of 9 seasons.
RIYL: Duster, Boards of Canada, Porches
Favorite Tracks: Lanterns, Dragged Out Underneath The Lights, Rifts, Yellow House
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Written by Ira Mason (@spookEguy420_69)