It’s a dangerous game when a group elicits comparisons to any well-regarded artist so when a band appears that can most aptly be described as The Mouldy Peaches meets Neutral Milk Hotel, there’s a fair amount of pressure involved. But despite living in the shadow of two of indie music’s sacredest sacred cows, The Act of Estimating as Worthless have struck out with a new take on some well trodden formulae. Large-scale lo-fi is the basic conceit here; The Act offset their simple, lo-fi, boy-girl vocals with surprisingly rich instrumentation, thick with brass and strings layered upon one and other.
The group’s tumblr contains a beautifully written (and rather lengthy) biography that perfectly describes the long and worry filled journey of actually starting a band. Anyone whose ever performed something of their own in front of even the smallest crowd can understand the feeling of being “awkward and timid and unsure that we knew how to play our music for anyone else’s ears but our own…” And it’s that fear, that hesitant desire to make something honest and personal, that informs The Act’s music (as well as their name).
The bands album, Amongst These Splintered Minds / / Leaden Thoughts Sing Softly is available for free download on their bandcamp and you should definitely take a few minutes to read the full biography.
