Laughing City

The only fault I could find with Eisley's Laughing City EP was that it was far too short. At under a half hour, with only five songs, Laughing City has so much musical momentum that it leaves the listener wanting more every time.

The opening song, "I Wasn't Prepared," combines melancholy nostalgia with fantasy-world wonder ("When the morning came, the bees flew down and wrapped themselves around me/And that's when I spoke the word to have them trace your face for me in pollen"), and frames it all in a beautifully original melody. Though it's a fair bit slower than most of the other songs, "I Wasn't Prepared" sets the perfect tone for the rest of the EP.

It's followed by "Telescope Eyes," the song that's receiving the most radio play, for obvious reasons. "Telescope Eyes" is a fantastic rock song, but its heartfelt lyrics reveal much more than one expects from a rock song ("Please don't make me cry/I'm just like you, I know you know/I'm just like you, so leave me alone").

"Tree Tops" brings to mind a music box with a spinning ballet dancer, and after a few seconds of that deceptive mental image, it hits you over the head with a blasting chorus. "Over the Mountains" follows in the same vein with lyrics about a semi-mystical forest.

The final, title track pleads for understanding ("Let's not fight/That is not nice/Let's not be sore/That is not right"). At the risk of sounding political, "Laughing City" is a lament for the way things used to be, a profile of a dysfunctional family, and a social commentary and cautionary tale all at once. It follows in the fantasy-world theme of the other four songs, but the jaded, disenchanted mood is quiet a change from the uplifting nature of the rest of the songs, and the EP ends with a feeling of abruptness and leaves the listener expecting much more.

Singer/songwriters Sherri and Stacy DuPree weave amazing words and melodies throughout Laughing City, and their bandmates Chauntelle and Weston DuPree and Jonathan Wilson (all under the age of 21) create a wonderfully dense, multilayered sound to back them up. They've been compared to Sixpence None the Richer, Over the Rhine, and even Jimmy Eat World, but Eisley's sound defies comparison with most other bands. The band members draw a great deal of influence from Radiohead, Coldplay, Sixpence, and others, and often these influences show up in their songs, but in general Eisley manages to "be their own band."

With such a diverse range of sounds and so much talent, it's no wonder Eisley toured with Coldplay over the summer. All the recognition they've received has been well-deserved, and a very devoted fan base awaits the release of their next EP, Marvelous Things, and, hopefully not long after, a full-length album. Laughing City is a beautiful, irresistable introduction to this rising talent and it's worth a serious listen from anyone interested in new, gifted bands.