White Houses

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Lion's Bridge	4:57	Play
2		In Your Twilight	4:08	Play
3		White Houses	5:00	Play
4		Like Rome	3:36	Play
5		Raise Your Love	5:37	Play

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Description

After releasing a critically praised self-titled collection of demos, singer/songwriter Sean Hoen's Leaving Rouge became a full fledged live band and played a year worth of ragged and occasionally amazing live shows opening for acts like The Constantines, Ted Leo, Appleseed Cast, Rebecca Gates, and Rival Schools. During that time they band rehearsed in the basement of a reclusive Michigan lake house some thirty miles out of Detroit. It was here that "White Houses," their follow up EP, was written and arranged.
While the self-titled debut CD has gone out of print and was slowly omitted from the band's live set, "White Houses" stakes a new ground and shows a band that demonstrates a mature degree of patience and reserve, allowing each other space and letting the songs grow into beautiful and rich passages that showcase the whole rather than the parts.
Other Leaving Rouge material has often been quite narrative and lyric driven, but "White Houses" (as taken from their bio) was compiled for the spacious, atmospheric, and dreamlike similarity in it's songs and lyrics. Apparently the group will release an album's worth of more concise, guitar driven songs later this year. However, in terms of emotional output and sonic beauty, 'White Houses" is an undeniable success. Hoen's voice blends the endearing, trembling quality of a young Bono (or a more practiced Paul Westerberg) with the lyrical talents of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. The drums and bass occupy a unique space, always locked in but rarely settling in anything that remotely resembles the rhythm of a pop song. Drummer Josh Machniak has a way of articulating every piece of his drum kit and leaving rom for the melodic layer of guitars, piano, and vocal harmonies.
Most striking is Hoen's voice and pianist Kari Buzewski's harmonies. Somehow they manage to avoid the hokey male/female clichs and use backing vocals as textural elements rather than standard duets. It works well and adds to the sad/beautiful effect of the record.
It's reminiscent of Coldplay without sap, of the more powerful work by The Cure, and of the studied and patient beauty of the mid 90s Red House Painters, or the Sunday-driving consolation of early REM. "White Houses," though only an EP, is challenging and compelling enough to leave one floored in it's brevity. It tells stories about mystic bridges and crawling through windows in the night, leaving for somewhere but never being quite certain of the destination. And it leaves the listener there, ultimately, moved and in love with the uncertainties.

CD Baby (recommended)

Reviews:


"This is no TRL emo... Leaving Rouge benefits from a no bullshit constitution like fellow Midwesterners The Replacements." Rockpile Magazine, 2003.


"There's an enigmatic quality to old emo records from the eighties that reminds of black and white portraits of ancestors: you know vaguely who they are, but there's just so much of their story you'll never get to know. The first generation of emo bands were usually short lived, having broken up long before most people ever got to hear them. So looking back on their pioneering music is like gasping for the residue of the brief flash that was their lifespan. Listening to Leaving Rouge feels like that.
This little-known Detroit band put out their first recording called "Collected Songs" in 2002. And when it went out of print, it stayed out of print. This five-song EP "White Houses" is thus the only surviving remnant of this manifestation of Leaving Rouge. It's short, it's damn good, and it leaves you wanting more. The stage for an enigma is set.
At the onset of this EP, I noticed a lot of resemblance between Leaving Rouge and the late, great Chamberlain, especially in the soulful vocals of Sean Hoen. In the home stretch that is the last two of the five songs, it was a lot of Elliott similarity at the forefront, tangibly a result of the piano work by Kari Buzewski, and intangibly due to the soaring atmospheric qualities. That's some good company for Leaving Rouge to be ranked among; they surely were able to compete with the best.
Parting words for Leaving Rouge aren't entirely in order, because the band hasn't been obliterated just yet. One last song called "Rooms" will be featured on Deep Elm's "This Is Indie Rock" compilation later this year. And even though this group of musicians has disbanded, Leaving Rouge remains a band, with a couple of the same members and the ex-bassist of Small Brown Bike."

- Tim Krysko, Punk International, 2004



"Sean Hoen - now here's a guy who just never stops. Though he's recently been logging hours with jitter-rock upstarts the Holy Fire, the former Thoughts of Ionesco frontman has found time to rebuild Leaving Rouge and release this immaculately intimate and mature EP. We don't know how he does it either. Here, Hoen and company bridge the divide between subdued indie rock and adult contemporary (in the tradition of Wilco) and come out favoring the latter. "Lion's Bridge," the disc's sweepingly melodic opener, glides with patient, twinkling guitars in the vein of Doghouse Records legends Chamberlain; "Raise Your Love" is a slow-sailing anthem with a hymn- like passion. With its wafting melodies and patient hooks, White Houses is light, deeply genial and entrancing enough to demand ears of all ages - it'll win with emo twentysomethings as well as their mid-management parents."

Reason to Buy: "The uptempo "Like Rome" exhibits piano work nimble enough to coax a nod of approval out of Ben Folds himself. And that dude can play with his teeth."


- Dave Kargol, Real Detroit Weekly 2004

"Leaving Rouge's second release "White Houses" is a throbbing, rich, sonic masterpiece. Layered with twinkling, atmospheric guitars and pianos, the stage is set here for singer/songwriter Sean Hoen to fully develop his powerful, searching narratives. The music works in tandem with Hoen's verse, and when on "In Your Twilight" Hoen sings "If the street is empty/through the window we'll leave/ we'll crawl" the band swells behind him, reaching the climax of the song and making an undeniably moving statement. There are moments like that all over 'White Houses," and while the EP is only 5 songs, it is powerful enough that it challenges and compels the listener more than most 12 songs albums and out plays most of the new-school shoegazers like Interpol or Coldplay.
Pianist/backing vocalist Kari Buzewski makes the wise choice of using her vocals and keys in a way that support the textures rather than send the band into the often hokey male/female duet catagory. Along with drummer Josh Machinak's pattering beats, it serves to make a very unified and full-bodied sound. The discs closer, "Raise Your Love" functions with an almost religious patience as the lyrics describe shadowy images of love-lost atop a slowly flowing galcier of guitars and piano that call to mind Sigur Ros or Mogwai. When the songs finally breaks and the EP closes, it's fair to say that few listeners will be left unmoved. Leaving Rouge is a diamond in the rough and one of those delicate bands that, while they may never be properly exposed ot mainstream ears, should be able to offer something for years to come."

Jason Kloss, Chartered Trips Magazine 2004
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