Artist: The Arrowsics

Artist: The Arrowsics

Links: https://www.facebook.com/Arrowsics

http://www.thearrowsics.com/

We've lost the Arrowsics to Portland, Maine; but with the Ring of Oak EP, we get a record of their 8+ years in Chicago. Brother and sister duo Trevor and Molly Geiger, have produced another compelling collection of naturalistic soundscapes.

As Trevor's vocals approach the beauty of James Taylor, Molly's are alluringly delicate like those of Harriet Wheeler, Leigh Nash and Nina Persson. Together, their harmonies blend as well as Laura Veirs and Colin Meloy on The Decemberists' "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)."

But the Arrowsics are more than the sum of their attractive vocal pairing. Not unlike dream-pop duo Beach House, the Arrowsics' layers of expressive guitar imbue their songs with emotional resonance. (The Arrowsics' "Ring of Oak" wouldn't have sounded out of place on Beach House's heralded album, Bloom.) "Lost" is a good example: The first 15 seconds introduce not one but two mood-defining guitar patterns. These set up some nice romantic lyricism, "Baby, oh baby, if you run away / Look to the stars / Find what you need and come back to me / Right to my arms."

Indeed, the Arrowsics' romanticism can be truly original. On the title track, a lover who expects a proposal of marriage eventually encounters one -- signified by the "ring" of an oak tree. But it's more than a clever play on words. The narrator lovingly observes that the tree's ring "grew for you."

Like the other tucked-in pleasures the band offers (e.g. fascinating bass lines), this thoughtful caring typifies The Arrowsics' approach to music. They're in it for the love of the craft. In other words, they're in it for us.

*** The author of this review, Joseph Moore, plays the wood block for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8