There’s ample cause for this Norman Oklahoma ensemble to call themselves the Evangelicals. Their swirling, celestial sound boasts something of a heavenly tint, one that ensures their music remains anything but earthbound. Like other denizens of the Bible Belt -- the Flaming Lips in particular -- the Evangelicals bring a hallucinogenic haze to their high-minded conceits. However, that cosmic connection also offers an occasional hint of cacophony; for example, on lead-off track “The Evening Descends,” a disjointed, disembodied choir meanders through the mix, creating a skittish effect that’s both elusive and alluring. That ethereal presence remains a constant throughout, whether relayed through the shimmering, percolating rhythms of “How Do You Sleep?” and “Party Crashin’” or cascading gently through the ether on the appropriately-titled “Snowflakes” and the dreamy, self-descriptive “Stoned Again.” However, as the music drifts along, it becomes increasingly apparent that these lysergic soundscapes are more than benign ruminations. There’s an innately unsettled feeling that surfaces in songs like “Bellawood,” while “Paperback Suicide” and “Bloodstream” are cloaked in an eerie ambiance that unravels around the fringes before drifting off into a sort of glazed over euphoria. Deliriously indulgent, The Evening Descends is a total trip.
--Lee Zimmerman
