2014 – Sheepdog Sheethog
Music
By Phillip Smith;
Feb 14, 2015
It just takes one listen to Heartspace Timepiece from Alejandra O’Leary and the Champions of the
West, to acknowledge it as a beautiful masterpiece. This indie rock band based in Michigan and
North Carolina, craft and perform amazingly lush pop music with outstanding vocals
and deep lyrics.
The spacy and futuristic, “Now
Now” reminds me a lot of synth-pop band, Missing
Persons. Echo-filled vocals, and attention-grabbing
guitar licks make this one a great track to open up with. O’leary’s
angelic voice flawlessly flows through the folksy “Skin to Skin”, with the softness
of Juliana Hatfield. “New Low” is
the song most likely to get stuck in my head. This deliciously poppy song ironically tells
the tale of an unraveling relationship.
The Champions of the West definitely come from a space heavily influenced by
bands like the Strokes. This adds a nice
substantial and meaty texture to tracks “Positive Drag”, “Talk Me Down”, and personal
favorite, “Mine That Groove”.
O’Leary nails this one down,
as there are no skip-overs on this album.
Each of the nine songs on Heartspace Timepiece is definitely a ‘keeper’.
