Press releases and promo photos all describe this as a pop noir murder mystery, which is an apt description for what we hear, but sussing that out of the lyrics is a difficult task. The description of the music implies a David Lynch affair, which isn’t accurate – it feels warmer, and more like a story, than anything Lynch has ever created.
The lyrics, intentionally obtuse according to frontman Dana Moore, are sometimes overpowered by the music itself. This is the major feature of the album – lyrics that aim to say something, but are both literally and metaphorically over shadowed by the music. This is not necessarily a bad thing here. With characteristically breathy vocals, we get tracks like “Lost Dauphins” with a gorgeous piano melody that guides the track and “Seaboys,” which is a surprisingly fast paced semi-acoustic number anchored by the refrain “my boy’s gonna grow up strong, my boy’s gonna grow up right.”
But what does it all mean? It’s hard not to labour on this point when all signs seem to point that deciphering the story here is important. Otherwise, why is one of the five tracks here an 18 second long track with an increasingly speedy guitar and the sound of turning pages? WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! You might be forced to conclude that not much is going on, but with music this powerful, it’s easy to enjoy this EP without a comprehensive knowledge of the story. Yer Welcome is indeed a mystery, in many ways, but it’s a captivating one meant for close listens on dark, quiet evenings. (The Calm Before the Music, www.gtdane.com) Devin King