The Life and Times deal in big spacious grooves that could be compared to shoegazer bands from way back when. Seriously epic drums courtesy of Chris Metcalf drive the album hard with sweet sixteenth note feels, backing up Epley's huge guitar riffs nicely. Eric Albert of Ring, Cacada rounds out the band. Epley's powerful vocals are well-matched to the bigger-than-life quality of the band.
Suburban Hymns has been growing on me gradually - the band has a very nice sonic brand, but Epley's voice is not especially distinctive and the songs aren't particularly catchy. The Life and Times traffic more in atmospherics than hook-laden rock.
The best numbers are the opener "My Last Hostage" with its soaring guitar riffs, "Coat of Arms" which has a strong melody and an interesting, effected vocal sound with some nice falsettos and "Running Red Lights", with another killer guitar riff and pretty vocal melody.
Recommended for fans of powerful, epic, shoegazing indie-rock.
