This reviewer was under the impression that any "Thee" band had to play Headcoatees-style garage dirt. He would have also sworn that any album whose title contains the word "cuts" was necessarily put out by DJ Skribble. Little did he know.
Thee More Shallows dip into slippery electronics, self-aware strings, and 2005's near-mandatory clean rhythm guitar parts to assemble More Deep Cuts' twelve tracks. They leave a jagged enough edge, though, to avoid the "destined for The O.C." tag, while still producing sounds light and accessible enough to make a few listens worthwhile. In short, Thee More Shallows' latest effort puts the band in a fine position to be the thinking man's Death Cab for Cutie. More Deep Cuts opens with a drum machine and earnestness: the IDM is, startlingly, in effect. Vocalist Dee Kesler's delivery could indeed be mistaken for Ben Gibbard's, but the rest of the band does its part to ensure that the song is solidly their own. This atmospheric pop band's atmosphere is set from the first track.
The second deep cut, "Pre-Present," wriggles about in the same mood, but does so with more organic instrumentation: an acoustic guitar and live drums. Just as you begin to notice that they're not holding up any particular sort of melody, though, Dee delivers another memorable chorus hook over a chilly horn section. The song, and indeed the album as a whole, receives high marks as well for working its ethereal keyboards in as if they'd been considered a part of the song from the get-go. Late-model Radiohead would be proud; a number of other chamber pop bands would be jealous.
The middle of the album knows it's got an ambiance to stick to, and it does so. "Int. #1" and "Int. #2" wrap a few of the album's more straightforward songs in the musical equivalent of mood lighting. Especially notable here is "2am," which, had it been named for a small town rather than a time of day, would find its looping orchestral bell part comfortably accommodated on a Sufjan Stevens record. By this point, the band has reevaluated the album's overarching mood, and ruled that guitar feedback and self-oscillating echoes do fit it. This reviewer must concur.
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