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| Editor's Pick ! |
| - Smother.Net |
| What would happen if Faith No More tried to again write pop-rock songs while listening to a torrent of New Wave? They might just write Suit of Lights self-titled album now available on Visiting Hours Records. Catch 22's James Egan provides the trumpeting, amid a six-piece that bless us with some magnified looks at melodic rock with driving guitars and shrink-wrapped bass lines. But what's most amazing is that they can rip out some rad jams that sound like b-sides off of a Beatles album with their quirky use of harmonizing vocals. I don't remember the last time I was this damn impressed!
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Asylum Magazine |
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If you started writing songs at age 10, releasing records at age 15, and now had your own label, your music might sound as amazing as Suit of Lights, Joe Darone's band named after a matador's costume. The band recently released an incredible ten-song, self-titled full-length on Joe's own label, Visiting Hours. Looking at the impressive list of talented musicians contributing to this album, it's not surprising there are countless positive reviews. If you don't recognize the names Arun Venkatesh, Steve Pedulla, Evan Silverman, John Underwood, Roy Van Tassel, James Egan, and Dina Concina, go do your music homework. While some of these songs make you want to dance and sing along, some of the more solemn and reflective songs make you want to cry or at least reminisce. With tracks containing experimental sounds, trumpet, trombone and other pleasant surprises, the ten songs are over before you know it and before you want them to be, so just keep replaying it. [JD]
Recommended: You can hear 4 of the new tracks at their myspace page: www.myspace.com/suitoflights
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Amplifier Magazine |
| New Jersey multiinstrumentalist Joe Darone has been making music in some form or fashion since he was in the fifth grade. It would only seem to follow that by now he knows what he’s doing, and what he’s doing is damn near everything. On his debut as Suit of Lights (a term that describes a matador’s outfit), Darone takes a page from the Eels’ Mark Everett, with a powerfully emotive ten-song cycle about the literal and figurative repercussions of death. Since life is a shifting series of disparate events, Darone also changes and blends genres at will. “Waking Up is Good” is a sublime tribute to Elvis Costello, “Goodbye Silk City” is baroque Beatles as envisioned by Fountains of Wayne, “The Air of Ambition” reinforces the Eels references, and “Swallow” melds Middle Eastern sinew with poppy new wave. Like life, Suit of Lights isn’t always perfect, but Darone’s passion for his work makes this album a fascinating treat. -BRIAN BAKER
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Time Will Tell Webzine |
Recommended if you Like:
The Boredoms, Swell, Gazino.
The Suit of Lights play an epic style of rock that comprises
of loud guitars and soft and unassuming breakdowns. The
production on this piece is top notch. |
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Steppin' Out Magazine |
| The opening track is a hit song called "Waking Up Is
Good". You never heard this song? Well, it's not a hit
YET. It might not ever be a REAL "hit" ever. You see,
normally you have to be on a record label that can pay
hundreds of thousands of dollars to radio stations to
have a song that EVERYBODY will hear. Not fair you
say? Then do something about it. Visit
www.SuitofLights.com and buy their killer new cd. Search a
little further for great music that may not have
corporate money behind it. |
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Hush NJ |
| When we reviewed Suit of Lights' 7" late last year, we couldn't stop tripping over ourselves to applaud the Clash-like "Waking Up Is Good" or the Beatles-esque bit of Paterson, N.J., oral history that was "Goodbye Silk City" -- a tribute to lead singer and ex-Fiendz member Joe "Zeckle" Darone's father. Well here we are months later, and we can't get over how he's expounded on the original idea. Tracks like "Out of The Running" and "Slap Me Five" are more akin to The Shins or The Postal Service than Darone's punk roots and it's not a stretch to say that the full, almost orchestral sound of "Who Stands Beneath A Dream" is a direct parallel to Radiohead. Given Darone's involvement at Big Blue Meenie Recording Studios and the inclusion of Blue Meenie producer Arun Venkatesh on guitars, keys, loops, samples, etc., it should be no surprise that the recording quality is top notch and the instrumentation is layered and widely varied. However, it is a surprise to heare Darone's vocals mature into a low, melancholy strain that sounds oddly like '80s favorite Joe Jackson ("Is She Really Going Out With Him," "Steppin' Out," "Breaking Us In Two"). This body of work can compete with the best the slowcore scene has to offer, but displays a musical and instrumental diversity up there with the most progressive bands commercial music has to offer. This is a stimulating, spectacular soundscape. Like its namesake, the rhinestone-laden coats worn by Spanish matadors, Suit of Lights' debut is breathtaking and will captivate you from start to finish. -- Jason Notte
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - -Lost at Sea |
The dossier on Joe Darone doesn't reveal much other than the fact he's a graphic artist who's done work for Agnostic Front, S.O.D. and get this, Madonna and Van Halen.
Apparently, it's all a front.
In secret, Darone, the creative force behind Suit of Lights, has been writing songs for years - only now is he willing to share them with the world.
Darone's Suit of Lights project is damn interesting and unpredictable - a pop pastiche with hints of emo and the occasional baroque horns. And that name, Suit of Lights, makes me think of a three-piece, pinstripe that shoots UV rays and gives the wearer superpowers.
It actually refers to the costume of a bullfighter, and considering how adroit Darone and his assemblage of studio mercenaries – Thursday guitarist Steve Pedulla and Streetlight Manifesto's James Egan, to name a few – are at sidestepping easy categorization, you could say the name fits.
At first, when you hear the giant, crushing guitar downstrokes in the chorus of the opener, "Waking Up Is Good", you're tempted to write Suit of Lights off as just another garden variety emo-core band hiding behind a wall of power chords. To think that would be a mistake. There's enough nervous energy in the Green Day-style guitars to light Broadway, and the slight rasp you hear in Darone's voice gives his vocals the serrated edge of a Joe Strummer. It's as if Suit of Lights has introduced The Clash's bastard children, The Constantines, to their real fathers and bridged the generation gap between them.
So, here we are, only two songs in, and you're beginning to wonder if Suit of Lights has already run out of steam. Then you hear the baroque melody and brass of "Goodbye Silk City", and it sounds like an emo version of Sgt. Pepper, with Egan providing the royal trumpet and trombone. Darone is on to something.
Having taken that left turn, he takes out a map and plots a course for more adventurous pop territory. With its somber double-tracked drums and starry guitar constellation, "Slap Me Five" is a haunting meditation on a difficult recovery from alcoholism. On "Who Stands beneath a Dream," producer Arun Venkatesh goes exploring dark, craggy caves of loops and samples with flickering keyboard flashlights. The half-light finds Darone crouching against a wall, bemoaning the tragic end of a woman who lets him "see her arms/no need to ask what [she is] on", as sinister strings hasten her undoing.
In a way Darone is a little like John Vanderslice, only his melodies have more of a noir-ish quality – they permeate like a desert, Tex-Mex version of cabaret music, especially in "The Air of Ambition" and "Into the Light." Like Vanderslice, Darone turns familiar pop melodies inside out, only he adds things like castanets and Venkatesh's eerie, horror-music organ to set the mood he wants. Where Vanderslice is more quirky and playful, with hooks keep sinking deeper and deeper into your flesh long after the songs end, Darone is more concerned with creating an atmosphere that shifts in ever-so-subtle ways – like the onset of night when it suddenly dawns on you how dark it has gotten.
That's Darone's greatest gift, and his willingness to not always play to his strengths makes him a rarity among emerging songwriters. Expect good things from Mr. Darone in the future; if not, he's always got bullfighting and graphic design to fall back on.
-Reviewed by Peter Lindblad
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Hybrid Magazine |
| Clever lyrical flow on across-the-board musics. They Might Be Giant Paul McCartneys.
Fun, light, cool.
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Score ! Music Magazine |
| Joe Darone collaborated with a lot of friends to create a truly great, ten-song piece of art.
Each song having its own unique flavor, the disc opens with a kick, and finishes with a contemplative smile. The opening track, "Waking Up is Good," truly wakes up the listeners to all of the album's possibilities. The final track, "This Night," will make a great final track on all future mix CD's I might ever make for my ex-boyfriends.
The tracks in between contain a Baskin-Robbins-type flavorful mix of different sounds. Some tracks echo the dreaminess of Pink Floyd, while others sound familiar to the sound of producer Arun Venkatesh's other projects--Thursday and Taking Back Sunday.
Using electric guitar, keyboards, samples, and brass, Darone truly explores all forms of music in supporting his ever-profound, poetic lyrics. "Suit of Lights" effervesces a respect for music that will definitely be shared by listeners.
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Jersey Beat |
| Following the band's debut EP, Suit of Lights' Joe Darone has released a full-length cd, beautifully packaged in black cardboard. The attention to detail extends to the recording quality and the list of musicians that singer/songwriter/drummer/guitarist Darone has recruited for this record: El Dopa's Arun Venkatesh, Ghost Orgy's Roy Van Tassel, and Thursday's Steve Pedulla, among others. The CD is basically a song cycle inspired by the death of Darone's father, and draws from a variety of influences (although not pop punk, surprisingly, given Darone's long association with the NJ band The Fiendz.) There are echoes here of the Beach Boys, Dylan, and the more pensive side of Elvis Costello, delivered in Darone's pinched, reedy voice. This is an emotionally charged album that shies away from the "emo" label, suggesting instead the multi-dimensional orchestral pop of Athens' Elephant 6 Collective - Jim Testa |
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - RAG Magazine |
| It's not often - and practically inconceivable - that a band will draw comparisons to The Beatles, Thrice, Muse and They Might Be Giants... and all within fifty or so minutes of music.
It's also not often that a graphic designer who's been writing music since elementary school assembles such a diverse cast as The Rosenbergs' Evan Silverman, Thursday guitarist, Steve Pedulla, and Streetlight Manifesto/Catch 22 trumpeter, James Egan to facilitate his emotive-pop aspirations.
Suit of Lights, a pseudonym for New Jersey singer/songwriter/musician-extraodinaire, Joe Darone's musical brainchild, is an ensemble of indie near-celebrities, all with an aptitude for profound instrumentals. Their self-titled debut is part cathartic indie-pop, part very good acid trip, traipsing from genre to genre with the slightest of ease.
Darone's songwriting is sincere and mature, but never takes itself too seriously. The duality is most manifested in "Goodbye Silk City," an homage to Joe's father, which combines an airy counterpoint (comprised mostly of brass) with wistful lyrics. Just three minutes later, the audience is presented with an experiment vaguely reminiscent of a toned down Mars Volta in "Who Stands Beneath A Dream."
Truthfully, it's most refreshing to hear a group of musicians that doesn't pigeonhole itself by writing ten near-identical songs, and even the greatest musical elitists will find something to love on this album. ---Josh Kleinberg |
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| Suit of Lights |
| - Sea of Tranquility |
| Suit Of Lights has released its self titled debut of cynical, alt-rock tinged songs. The music is one part Costello and one part The Eels. Joe Darone is joined by seven other musicians to record this debut CD. Darone has a wry sense of humor and isn’t shy about the topics he chooses. The music is vocal oriented and Darone does a fine job with his delivery.
The only true rocker on Suit Of Lights is the opener “Waking Up Is Good”. This is almost Third Eye Blind like in its use of power chords and chorus. The CD slows down starting with “Goodbye Silk City” which has a nice horn section accompaniment. “Slap Me Five” is another ballad about a self-destructive alcoholic’s life.
The music on Suit Of Lights may contain too much radio-friendly pop for most of the readers of Sea Of Tranquility, but Darone has a pretty good touch with songwriting, and like Costello, the sarcasm behind the lyrics adds the missing ingredient on several songs. For a debut Suit Of Lights is a pretty damn good effort. |
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| Suit of Lights / Suit of Lights |
| - Up & Coming Magazine |
| The self titled release from solo artist Joe Darone leans way more Emo than anything else.
When it's rockin', the best track here is "Waking Up Is Good," by far the standout, that even brings Weezer-esque comparisons to mind.
This is the kind of record that straddles genres and defies conventional definition. The engineering is top notch here and the album sounds great. Let's hope the future is bright for these lights. |
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| Suit of Lights - Suit of Lights |
| - Alternative Malta |
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One of the great things about debuts is that it they set the agenda of what a band is to become. It is a taster of a group’s talents and what can be achieved.
I can say right now that Suit of Lights have their eyes set on the prize and will stop at nothing to grab it. In other words the Suit of Lights deal with anthems. Grandeur is prominent, but not pomp. The band has a knack of involving the listener and wanting him to sing along or at least get carried away with the sweep.
One of the major highlights is ‘Goodbye Silk City’, a twinkly and slightly mournful tune that definitely should be a single and is a summary of what the album represents. |
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| Suit of Lights |
| - Swisspunk.com |
| Suit Of Lights is not a group strictly speaking, they are wholesale the work of a man: Joe Darone. It can count on excellent musicians like Steve (of Thursday) and James (of Streetlight Manifesto). The style of the album is a savoury mixture of rock'n'roll, emo and indie-rock'n'roll.
The album is composed of 10 titles of significant, major and emotional rock'n'roll, the whole supported by an excellent voice, that of Joe Darone. The instrumentation is not in remainder, with elegant and especially very beautiful melodies. One of the best titles is surely "Goodbye Silk City" thanks to the contribution of James Egan (Streetlight Manifesto, trumpet and trombone) which for this reason gives much more depth.
It is an album which I recommend to the fan of Get Up Kids, Brandtson and Texas Is The Reason. In any case it is an excellent album. To make you an idea 4 titles are in remote loading on their site. |
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| Suit of Lights |
| - All Music Guide |
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Former Fiendz member Joe Darone shed his punk skin on Suit of Lights, yielding an often appealing song cycle with his ten track debut album. Augmented by Thursday guitarist Steve Pedulla, the disc is an alt-rock smorgasbord. The single-worthy "Waking Up Is Good" -- evoking the energy of The Clash and vintage Elvis Costello -- is the best thing here, but the pop lament "Goodbye Silk City" and the quirky experimental number "Swallow" are equally and easily digestible. Fans of Sub Pop's leading outfits The Shins and The Postal Service will be drawn to the somber effects of "Slap Me Five" and "Out of The Running", suggesting that Darone's winning songs and convincing arrangements will soon be hotly sought-after by those in-the-know. ~ John D. Luerssen, All Music Guide
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| Suit of Lights |
| - Rock-In-Chair [France] |
| All begins with rock'n'roll what there is of more direct with "Waking up is good" and then already with the second title, we can start to doubt "Out of the Running" seems to conceal other nuances, more dubious but indeed present, for a very melody piece besides. And then with "Goodbye Silk City", we discover the true facet of the group, that which comes to confirm our doubts. There is something of air in their sound, less terre.à.terre... This ballade is one cannot more pleasant "Slap five" continues me in the same one transfered and will leave room to very beautiful pieces such as "The air of Ambition" taking off towards flights full with hope, and a a little warlike sound. There is also "Swallow", the title which symbolizes more the this aspect of the group: the feet on ground, the head in the moon, the sound clings in a weightlessness which seems inevitable. We have the pleasure of the guitar, the luminosity of the case, the clearness of the voice... In short, all these elements push us in the arms of this completely charming musical quality. With these ten titles, it is the occasion to discover Suit of Lights which has really more than one turn in its bag. Temptation calls upon the seduction and vice versa. Let we make, it is so much simpler! |
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| Suit of Lights |
| - Ear Candy |
| Hey, this one starts off good! I really like the reggae flavored verses of “Waking Up Is Good” and it really helps to launch the crunchy punk pop choruses. It even has a Beatles style bridge. This may be their debut release but it’s pretty obvious that somebody has paid his dues. Especially in the pop songwriting department. I can hear a lot of the Beatles sprinkled throughout this cd as well as some Elvis Costello, a bit of the Clash and even the Beach Boys. It pays to listen to all kinds of music and that’s what has put these guys a notch above the rest. |
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| Suit of Lights 7" |
| - Hush NJ |
| It's been an interesting journey for Joe Darone. From his time in late-'80s/early-'90s pop-punk outfit The Fiendz to his stint with late-'90s indie-pop darlings The Rosenbergs, nobody's ever really been able to pigeonhole the sound he's gone for or the music he's created.
His latest project, Suit Of Lights, is perhaps his most drastic and most inspired turn of all. Though only two songs of a 10-song concept, the Suit of Lights 7" packs a wealth of influences and inspiration into its roughly seven minutes. In "Waking Up Is Good," a punk-pop intro and chorus riff and shouts wrap around a bouncy Clash-meets-Fugazi-style groove and a call for greater collective consciousness.
However, the flipside's "goodbye silk city" is the record's and the entire project's spiritual center. Combining the sentimentality of Simon and Garfunkel's "Our House," the Beatles' mastery of the horn as a rock instrument on the "Sgt. Pepper's" album and Springsteen's urban lament on "My City of Ruin," "Goodbye Silk City" evokes a city of Paterson haunted by its past and forced into its uncertain future ("Do you recall a time before the malls went up/down by the falls/it's like it wasn't ever here at all).
While Darone wrote the song as a tribute to his late father, its composition and its message of the overriding importance of each life and the stories carried by each person throughout their all too brief time are as transcendent as tales told from a father to son. It's a gorgeous, all-enveloping soundscape that seems to have come from an era long since passed. It's not a stretch to say that this kind of orchestration just isn't done in rock anymore. That Darone and company nail it in just one song is a testament not only to the songwriter, but to his muse.
Jason Notte / Hush NJ |
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| Suit of Lights 7" |
| - Jersey Beat |
| *TOP 10 FOR 2004*
7. Suit of Lights 7-inch EP (self released) This is a TWO-SONG release, yet there's no doubt in my mind that it's one of the year's best. The things Joe Darone and company are doing on "Goodbye Silk City" are light years beyond punk or emo. A musical and cultural landscape, the track evokes a sound from an era as bygone as that of Paterson's golden era so aptly described in the song. "Waking Up Is Good" provides a nice Clash-inspired counterbalance. The full-length should be mind-blowing. |
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| Suit of Lights |
| - Babble and Beat |
| Just when you think you've done all your research, heard as much as you can, .. some band sneaks by you and you end up wondering if you know a damn thing at all. Well, Suit Of Lights is one of those bands that are extremely good but very sneaky.
'Waking Up Is Good', 'Goodbye Silk City', & 'Out Of The Running' are fantastic songs. They are also completely different from each other. Call us nuts, seems like there is a "dying" theme to their debut album, 'Suit Of Lights' (Visiting Hours, 2005).
They are going to be your new favorite band!
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