by Calvin Staropoli (@cal_staro)
After dropping Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, their third studio album, the members of Colorado band Candy Claws were ready to move on to other endeavors. However, online fanatics couldn’t seem to stay away. This third and final album from the group, while generally well received on release, has garnered an online cult-classic status throughout the past decade. Listening to this 10th anniversary reissue, it’s easy to see why. While it fits into what many would describe as shoegaze, it lacks much of the melancholic and nocturnal feelings that are often associated with the genre. Rather, Deep Time is whimsical, bright, and light-hearted, while still maintaining that surreal and intense noisiness synonymous with bands like My Bloody Valentine. Instead of sinking into your bed with the lights off and the curtains closed, Candy Claws makes shoegaze for a day on the beach, sipping on a tropical beverage. It’ll give you tinnitus, but it’ll also get you up and dancing.
The storyline of Deep Time takes place millions of years before our time. We follow a human and their seal-like creature companion as they explore the earth during a pre-historic era. They witness the birth of this strange new world, and by the end they watch it fall apart again as a new era dawns, with nature rebuilding itself from the ashes. Opener "Into the Deep Time (One Sun)" introduces this world, one that has re-emerged from ecological disaster. Its languid chord progression is a slow descent down the rabbit hole, preparing us for the journey to come. The two characters explore the beauty around them up until "Transitional Bird (Clever Girl)," a propulsive head-banger where all the creatures of the land prepare for an earth shattering change yet again. It all comes crashing down on the mournful "Charade (Fern Parade)," as the two protagonists watch earth being destroyed and reborn in front of them.
All of this is, of course, incomprehensible on a first listen since the vocals are drenched in reverb and drowned out by the other musical elements, but the magical thing about Deep Time is that even without digging into the lyrics, the feeling of this magical, ancient earth still comes through in the music itself. Just as the characters of the album’s story are exploring this strange land, the songs themselves invite us to explore the musical world that unfolds through the album's runtime. There are hints of familiar instruments like strings and guitars, but they're meshed with indescribable sounds that erratically warp and distort into an otherworldly collage of noise. Candy Claws bring the listener somewhere that is oddly familiar, but still strange and distant. While this world is strange, it is also very inviting. Tropical melodies and airy vocals make it easy to fall right into the sonic landscape. This is most apparent on “White Seal” which bumps the tropicalia up to an eleven; steel drums and all. They then combine this tropical flavor with blown-out bass lines and their unintelligible but gorgeous vocal work. This speaker-rattling bass is intense, but it also coats the record in an enveloping warmth like a prickly hug. The breezy and memorable hooks help to smooth out the roughness and negate any chance of ear fatigue. Tropical shoegaze may sound pretty out there on paper, but the Claws bend all these elements together beautifully.
However, beyond the poppy beach vibes, there are also hints that something vaguely sinister is around the corner. The sudden minor to major chord shifts on the hefty “Fell in Love (By The Water)” drags the listener from transcendence to a sudden feeling of despair, and then back again. “Charade” has an espionage feeling that hints at something lurking in the distance, watching these characters from the shadows as they explore, and “Illusion” has a keyboard riff straight out of a haunted mansion. In mixing beautiful pop hooks with these hints of spookiness and plenty of noise, Deep Time creates a truly one-of-a-kind atmosphere.
Closer “Where I Found You (One Star)” re-interpolates the opening track’s melody to look back on this magical journey, giving the album a satisfying ending and wrapping up the storylines as the two main characters reflect on their journey and all they’ve seen. Thankfully we’re not quite done yet, because for this reissue Candy Claws treated fans to “Distortion Spear,” their first new song since this record's initial release. It’s another noisy banger with an added indie folk twist. The bass drops out on the pre-chorus and we get a moment of acoustic guitar bliss, with the vocals for the first time becoming almost crystal clear. Subtle background horns and strings wash us in nostalgia; quite fitting for a bonus track on an anniversary reissue. While it doesn’t reinvent the wheel in terms of a Candy Claws song, it’s a wonderful treat for fans who have been starved of the Claws’ music for the last decade. The reissue also includes instrumental versions of every track, which is a great way to really dig into the sonic detailing.
Even after ten years, Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time still manages to sound like nothing else. Conceptually and sonically, it begs for deep exploration. The band known as Candy Claws may now be extinct, but the mystical prehistoric world they conjured here will live on forever.