The boy/girl duo has been a popular format of recent years: Slow Club, Sleigh Bells, Summer Camp, She & Him and Beach House are just a few artists that have all risen to prominence within tangible proximity. Big Deal may actually share more than a few attributes with some of these artists yet feel refreshingly distinctive, their output undeniably infectious. Their setup is primitive yet plunges deep, both emotively and sonically. They seem to exist in a wonderfully ambiguous middle ground between grungey guitars and plaintive, clean reverberations. It’s this blurred middle ground where most people flounder, and this makes them not only distinctive but also endearing. The record skips between the rudimentary and the grand; they exude a bedroom-like quality whilst retaining a grandiose, almost bombastic pop sensibility. The two voices merge together molten-like, paradoxically becoming both indistinguishable and idiosyncratic. Often, the trouble with boy-girl singing is its tiresome descent into the bottom of the honey pot, becoming saturated in a gloopy, sickly coating. Here, there remains a gritty quality throughout the record. This is especially difficult due to the lack of drums, bass or even keyboards, yet they somehow manage to create a sense of simultaneous rhythm and mesosphere with the guitar tonalities and vocal-induced atmospherics.
Ultimately, Lights Out is a fine instance of beauty in simplicity. They have created a record with a definitive sound and sonic pallet, yet within their self-imposed restrictions, managing to mould twelve diverse and intriguing compositions almost all of which single-release worthy. It’s this consistency that makes picking out specific songs for analysis an almost fruitless task. In an age where people are crying about the death of the LP, this album is a wonderful parade of collective sonic cohesion.
On closer 'Pi', the sense of atmosphere created is akin to the dusty, druggy, eloquent haze that Mazzy Star was able to so seamlessly emit. It’s a reflective way to finish the record, allowing the listener to absorb the delicate beauties they have had bestowed upon them while still remaining immersed in the tranquil and haunting clasp of the albums closing moments.