Fleeting Joys - Despondent Transponder (Album Review)

 

Fleeting Joys - Despondent Transponder

(2006)


My copy: 2011 pressing on white vinyl by Only Forever Recordings and Fat People Are Harder To Kidnap Records.


Despondent Transponder is the sequel to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless that the masses never got (that is until seven years later in 2013). Fleeting Joys thought themselves fit to recreate the joyous cacophony of Loveless (albeit a touch more grounded) and the results are shockingly similar; the duo are cursed to always suffer direct comparisons to MBV though managing to capture the sound of a band that produced one of the greatest rock records of all time isn’t such a bad thing. 

Swooning guitars and thick layers of distortion seek new converts to the church of shoegazing on opening track “The Breakup.” It seems the key to replicating the Loveless sound so well is a hearty dosage of reverse-reverb on lead melodies as well as Rorika and John Loring’s whispered take on the vocals of Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher. “Lovely Crawl” is grand and sprawling: Fleeting Joys seem to have taken some notes from The Swirlies in the density of the tremolo guitar passages. The mix on Despondent Transponder is fantastic with heavy rhythm guitars sitting perfectly atop the bass lines allowing the ear-candy melodies to truly pop. 

“Go & Come Back” plays with ambiance before morphing into an airy track with rhythms that give the lead more room to breathe. A true masterpiece is the instrumental landscape of “I Want More Life” which begins with bending synth atmospheres that twist and slowly reach out like wilting flowers desperate for pale light; drums then explode while guitars exhale smokey texture. 

“Satellite” channels the post-punk sass of Isn’t Anything and again picks on The Swirlies with clean arpeggios. The ambient and repetitive side of Shoegaze comes through on “Magnificent Oblivion” which meditates on a soothing melody that stutters at the end of each bar. Where MBV mostly uses vocals as an additional instrument, “Where Do I End” features an insanely catchy vocal chorus that distinguishes Fleeting Joys from shoegazers who disregard songwriting. 

“Young Girl’s Fangs” is a stereo delight of sound effects before the album closes out on “Patron Saint,” perhaps the darkest instrumental track. Despondent Transponder is proof that copying the sound of your favorite record can pan out so long as you approach the matter with class. Fleeting Joys are maybe the closest band to nailing the MBV sound, and in doing so have left the world with an extremely satisfying album. 

My white copy of this record is now quite rare, selling for around 100 USD currently. There is a more modern reissue that is slightly cheaper.


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