The Depreciation Guild: Jericho Tavern (From The Oxford Times)

The Depreciation Guild: Jericho Tavern

8:10am Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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It must be dispiriting to come all the way from Brooklyn to play to only 30 people, but, as the Depreciation Guild singer Kurt Feldman is keen to stress, it is a Sunday night. It could have been a lot worse as this gig was never going to attract a massive crowd, the Depreciation Guild have quietly released two albums in their four year career and have yet to make it beyond indie fanatics in building a fanbase. This doesn’t mean, however that they and indeed their set at the Jericho isn’t worth being seen by a lot more people.

The Depreciation Guild offer a colourful mish mash of alternative rock, with elements drawn from a myriad of bands.

They have a laid back guitar sound, gently lifted from the Smashing Pumpkins early days, washing over you gradually, with no riff too aggressive or prominent.

They also drawn much from the huge, walls of noise created by the Durutti Column and My Bloody Valentine, adding a haze of noise to their tracks.

There’s also a poppy sheen running throughout, with glossy keyboards, not too dissimilar from vintage New Order. Each one of the eight songs they play builds slowly, starting with a warm, misty guitar riff and slowly morphing into a lilting, hypnotic pop song.

Some tracks are more straightforward than others, with the standout of the set being My Chariot, a fuzzy gem driven by an insanely catchy keyboard refrain and sticky sweet chorus, begging to be hummed all the way home. Elsewhere Dream About Me and Trace manage to harness the power of psychedelic rock into a toned four-and-a-half minutes.

The Depreciation Guild are far too shy and gentle, both onstage and sonically, to ever force themselves into most people’s living rooms, but for those who enjoy tender, inventive pop music, you’ll probably really like the Depreciation Guild.