The Appleseed Cast

The first Tigerstyle release for the Cast boys manages subtlety in a most monumental way. Guitar crescendos that soar lazily into shimmering refrains sit beside sweetly serious vocals, and manage to tackle ruminations on love without traditionally poppy emo pathos. This has always been the band's appeal, along with their obvious and charismatic sincerity. Integrity is maintained on the album, a compromise between the slight indie rock conventionalisms of Mare Vitalis, and the experimental phase of the brilliant Low Level Owl series. Stately rock moments, as in the contrarily titled "Sinking," are followed by simplified guitar pop-isms, as in "The Page." It's not until you find yourself singing along to some mysteriously familiar melody a few hours later that the record actually sinks in. This evident ripening and unified diversification of sound is exactly what makes Two Conversations feel comfortable and resolved.