Dizzy Heights "Nothing Is What It Seems"
by Sean Ridenour, VOX Magazine
Oklahoma City's Dizzy Heights debut album recalls 1989 in a way I'm not sure I want to remember. Sure, The Cure influence is present, but Tapau and everything else 98.9 KYIS FM rotates comes to mind. Frontman Travis LeBlanc showcases his skills in song structure and sharp, original lyrics, but still, something isn't quite right. "Nothing is what it Seems" may be just exactly what it seems - outdated. Full of clean, delayed guitars, programmed beats and wispy atmosphere, this collection of songs could easily be lost recordings from the late 80's.LeBlanc, however knows this and achieved exactly what he was after - an album referencing some of his favorite artists of that era. Songs like "More than You'll Ever Know " and "Ecstasy for Everyone" are lyrically sound, and LeBlancs vocals do well here. The padded keyboards and abominable electric drums, on the other hand, absolutely kill anything great about the songs. They're too much of a throwback. Unfortunately, every song sounds this way. "Just One of those Things" should have been a song by the Sundays. Swallowed up in reverb and devoid of anything new, "Nothing is what it Seems" comes up short of the intensity it could have accomplished. The Dizzy Heights have all the right elements in place. Apparently, though, their heads are lost somewhere in the clouds.

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