The first full-length Depreciation Guild had a fuller sound than the early often sparse chiptune/shoegaze experiments such as on the Nautilus ep. It was a lot more refined but still pretty raw and exhilarating. "Sky ghosts" for example is driven along by a blast of fuzzy guitar and 8-bit beat. Amid all the noise and electronic din however is a beautiful pop melody and that throughout has been why the Depreciation Guild were one of the best bands of recent years... and this album near as damn essential.
"A room, a canvas" follows the pop noise and early electronic noise blueprint but puts it into a dramatic epic soundscape. Another highlight is the frenetic pop blast of "Butterfly kisses". In truth all of the songs are wonderful and yet it was only a taste of what was to come.
