Vine

Three Days in the Desert Vine

It's called 3 Days In The Desert, but SoCal indie rock trio Vine's BT23.com label debut is anything but a harsh, arid soundscape. The band -- Patrick Thompson, Greg Gil and Jay Gore -- conjure up feelings as vast and unnamable as the universe of stars that stretch across Death Valley, lyrical imagery as colorful as the Painted Desert, and highly detailed textures as vivid, varied and interpretive as nature itself. Using a potent blend of live instrumentation and sampled beats, Vine is an altogether intriguing mix of retro rock and future groove. 'It's a rather quirky collection of songs,' Thompson says. 'But there are definitely some basic threads unifying the various angles. Writing and recording songs is something I'm compelled to do. It always comes back to me.' Though Thompson and Gil have been playing music together for more than 10 years, the addition of Gore a year and a half ago completed the Vine. A lo-fi gear-head from the moment of his first Casiotone keyboard, Thompson brought his acquired knowledge and innate skills of the recording art and science to 3 Days In The Desert, and reversed the typical analogue-to-digital process in order to achieve a warm, live sound that's truly attainable when analogue is the final destination. To make the album even more organic, he used tube microphones and other vintage gear. The result is a wide-open sky of sound. 'This record, at it's core, is sort of idealistic and maybe even romantic,' Thompson says. 'In a climate that has a lot of cynicism, this record is not so cynical.' As a result, 3 Days In The Desert is a mandatory vacation.