In its earliest days,
Idris Vicuna's solo project
Eyedress fell more in line with the dark atmospherics and sludgy beats of the witch house movement, but it grew increasingly dreamier and brighter as it evolved. When
Vicuna began introducing heavily processed guitar lines into his arrangements,
Eyedress moved away from its early bleakness and into territory more similar to
King Krule's fractured songwriting or
Mac Demarco's wobbly indie rock.
Let's Skip to the Wedding is the first
Eyedress album since
Vicuna returned to America after a time in his homeland of the Philippines, and the sound has reached new levels of both lovestruck romanticism and faded lo-fi production. The record begins with its title track, a 98-second miniature with the same warped bass lines, muted electronic drums, and buried vocals that made
Ariel Pink's early material so alien and so captivating.
Eyedress' knack for intricate guitar lines and glassy synth sounds sets him apart from the well-traversed territory of lo-fi pop obscurists like
Ariel Pink or
John Maus. His songs are structured more straightforwardly as well, and themes of love, devotion, and tenderness come through in songs like "Skateboarding Day," "Can I See You Tonight?," and "Romantic Lover." The moody synths and shadowy grooves impart some songs with an R&B undercurrent, but then are quickly upended by oddities like the punk/rap/surf "I Don't Wanna Be Your Friend." It's a strange yet sweet web of homespun styles, sounding like a lost post-punk tape one minute (the goth-tinged "Last Time I'm Falling in Love") and a
Prince demo the next (the wild falsetto vocals of "Never Been to Prom"). In the album's back end, a few songs feature unexpectedly vocoded lead vocals.
Let's Skip to the Wedding goes all over the place, but it's glued together by
Vicuna's adventurous songwriting and warmhearted themes. ~ Fred Thomas
