Desolation Wilderness

New Universe (K)

By Emily Becker
Published: August 10th, 2009 | 7:00am

From the hyperbole of the "William Tell Overture" to the placidity of the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning,” successful music creates a specific mood. For Desolation Wilderness, the mood is heavily atmospheric, yet light and lucid.

The band, which takes its name from a section of the El Dorado National Forest, grew out of multi-instrumentalist Nicolas Zwart’s solo recordings. Rather than flit about among musical genres, Desolation Wilderness prefers to perfect their chosen patch of sonic ground, so it’s not surprising that its sophomore effort, New Universe, varies little from the debut full-length, White Light Strobing (K Records, 2008).

Desolation Wilderness’ tour locations skew heavily to college towns like Lawrence, Kansas, and Oberlin, Ohio, which makes sense, since the band's sound harkens back to a time when college radio still held sway over young fans that flocked to hear Pavement and Yo La Tengo. It’s fitting, too, that college rock mainstay Bob Weston (Shellac, Volcano Suns) mastered the record.

Lead track “Venice Beach” is warm and summery in the kind of way that indoor kids appreciate, but the only littoral sound in earshot is the wave of effect pedals lapping at the band’s feet during practice. “Moon Dreams” melds shimmering shoegaze guitar with simple rhythms and a touch of glockenspiel. Zwart’s vocals remain nearly unintelligible throughout, but though his words may be relatively devoid of meaning, the melodies still please.

Rather than a few snappy tracks and some filler, New Universe is solid throughout. It’s nearly impossible to separate one track from the next, so don’t bother, just pop on some headphones and prepare for a lovely journey through Desolation Wilderness’ New Universe.

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