Bright Light Fever reviewed
Bright Light Fever
Bright Light Fever Presents The Evening Owl
(Stolen Transmission)
Signed on the verge of breaking up, Bright Light Fever make the album The Killers would have made if they were into Hot Hot Heat.
When Stolen Transmission offered a deal, frontman Evan Ferro had taken a prominent role in his brother’s band and had a good mind to close the lid on Bright Light Fever. Instead he revived it and dragged brother Matt and drummer Rober Torres along. Oddly, the strongest part of The Evening Owl isn’t necessarily Evan Ferro, whose voice is somewhere between Muse’s Matthew Bellamy and Brandon Flowers of The Killers in a warbly, not-sure-if-this-qualifies-as-a-singing-voice way. The band, and this includes their fearless leader, manage a tantalizing blend of sloppiness and style. Even on tracks such as the surging “The Diamond” and four-on-the-floor “A Deeper Blue” allow for some shakiness and an endearing lack of tightness in Bright Light Fever parlance. Getting better might be a bad thing.
— Steve Forstneger
