Candy Isles -Candy Isles

Candy Isles

Candy Isles
self-released; 2016

3.5 out of 5

By Jamie Funk
​

Candy Isles is the recording project for Jason Reyes. The project started in 2015 after the disbanding of his band Peachpit (not to be confused with Passion Pit). So far he has released two songs both of which are on Bandcamp.

The recordings are lo-fi. I’d say about a twenty-five percent improvement on recording quality and he will be in a good place. The songs are a bit muddy and boxy with not enough separation. Some of the typical things you hear in DIY recording.

The title track “Candy Isles” is a good track and I have to admit it reminded me of Deerhunter right off the bat. It was not only the way he treated the guitar but the style and even the singing. I’m sure he's probably aware of the similarities. If he's not I’d be really surprised. All things considered this is a solid song which like some Deerhunter songs contains elements of shoegaze.

The vocals are buried pretty deep in the mix and I can’t say I could make out much without the lyric sheet. There is a good amount of ambiguity in the lyrics which I tend to appreciate never quite knowing exactly what he could mean. He sings, “Crying in the candy aisle / Heaven’s been unsweetened / For a while / You rested on your spine / Crushed it up / Grounded fine.” The end of the song melded into a lush hypnotic arrangement which on top of Deerhunter has a fragment of Broken Social Scene. 

Up next is “New Glove” which has a similar style to the title track. His vocals are a little more dynamic and pronounced here. A very good song from beginning to end. Catchy, unique lyrics and a nice peak towards the end.

​I like this style of music and like what Reyes is doing. This is a good start but I want to see Reyes have a more distinct style down the line. There is doubt this is feasible with some out of the box thing and tweaking.  He laid a good foundation for him to grow with these songs.

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